Miracle? More Like Debacle
by Danny2202
Summary: In Exit Wounds, no one died. In Day Four, no one died. Tosh, Owen and Ianto are all alive and well. Miracle Day has arrived and no one has died. (Essentially the Miracle Day plot but with the original team plus Rhys, Rhiannon, Esther and Rex)
1. The New World Part 1

**Miracle Day**

 **The New World**

Chapter One  
The calendar marked two years since the 456 incident. The incident had affected the entire world and the Torchwood team had spent five days on the run – though it had felt like a lot longer with Owen's constant complaining – so the date wasn't exactly one Ianto could forget in a hurry. Things had calmed down again following the 456 incident, thankfully, and eventually things had returned to normal. Well, as normal as weevil hunting and alien artefact hunting could be. Jack had understandably closed himself off following the death of his grandson. Tosh had convinced Ianto to give him time, and he did despite the urge to press him and attempt to draw him out of the weird trance he'd fallen into. But Tosh, as always, had been right. Given time, Jack returned to his normal, flirty self and their relationship had returned to its usual uncommitted status.

In fact, two years after the 456 incident, not much had changed. Except, of course, Gwen. When Anwen had been born, Jack convinced Gwen to take a few years off from Torchwood to spend time with her daughter. It made sense, considering the number of close calls all four team members had experienced during the five days battling the 456, but Ianto had been very surprised when Gwen had actually agreed to Jack's proposal. The biggest of surprises, however, had come when Gwen popped into the hub one day to announce that Rhys had convinced her to temporarily move to an isolated farmhouse in the middle of the Welsh countryside until she returned to Torchwood. Ianto could only presume Rhys had suggested it to prevent Gwen from being tempted back to Torchwood whenever something suspicious occurred in Cardiff.

Ianto placed a mug onto his coffee machine; something else that had changed in the two years after his previous one had been blown up with the original hub. In fact, the whole hub was new, not that there was any obvious difference. Jack had been very insistent, during the long rebuilding process, about it looking exactly the same as the old one, _including_ the old sewer look. Ianto rolled his eyes: and people said _he_ was obsessive. Ianto's eyes flicked back up to the calendar as he pressed the button on the machine to fill the cup. Two years. Whilst Ianto had found himself in many dangerous situations across his last four years at Torchwood Cardiff, the 456 incident was the closest he'd ever come to death without being in any immediate danger. Jack had saved him…

" _Jack!" Ianto called after the other man, who was almost at the warehouse door by this point. "Jack!" He repeated after Jack ignored him. Ianto was positive he was shouting loud enough for him to hear him, and yet Jack continued to walk. Ianto resorted to a run, grabbing on to Jack's shoulder just as Jack reached for the handle of the warehouse door. "Will you stop?"_

 _Jack spun on his heels, finally turning to face Ianto as their blue eyes met. "What?" He questioned, his voice colder than usual. Ianto knew it wasn't aimed at him: Jack's family had been taken and when combined with the guilt Ianto knew Jack must be feeling with the reminder of his actions years ago, Jack was obviously stressed, even if he was trying not to show it._

" _Let me come with you," Ianto suggested. He didn't like the idea of Jack facing the 456 alone, especially since they'd dredged up the past he wanted to forget. "I can help you."_

" _I need to do this alone," Jack shook his head. "Besides, I need you here with Gwen."_

" _Why?" Ianto challenged. "Gwen can handle MI5 by her own." Ianto sighed. "First you unnecessarily sent both Owen and Tosh with Rhys to protect a leverage video. Now you're leaving both me and Gwen here. Why are you blocking us all out?"_

" _This is my fault. I'm putting an end to it," came Jack's growled response. Ianto opened his mouth to respond but before he could say anything, Jack was out the door, door banging shut behind him._

"Shit," Ianto muttered as a burning sensation on his hand brought his attention back to the coffee he was meant to be focusing on. Instead, his lapse in concentration had resulted in the hot liquid overflowing straight onto his hand. Flicking the machine off, Ianto went straight for the cold tap where he proceeded to hold his hand under the cold flowing water.

The frustration he felt as a result of the burning sensation in his hand wasn't too dissimilar from the frustration he'd held towards Jack following their short conversation almost two years ago now. That frustration had turned to a weird mixture of relief and worry when he'd heard of the Thames House poisoning. It hadn't hit him until he and Gwen had entered the room filled with the victims of the poisoning, identities covered by red sheets. That could have been him. It _was_ Jack. And what if that had been the time that his luck had run out? What if Jack had died? Every time Jack died, the same thought crosses Ianto's mind. What if that's it? What if Jack can die? Surely he will one day? No one can live forever, can they? What if… one day… Jack's immortality just… disappears?

 **TWMD**

A sudden blaring of alarms caused Ianto to jerk awake, Jack doing the same next to him. They didn't make a tendency of sleeping in the hub anymore. Ianto's flat had, at some point over the past two years, turned into Jack's permanent place of residence. Which also meant the place was never tidy anymore. On this particular occasion however, Jack had gotten especially handsy as they were planning to leave for home and they'd never actually gotten to the cog door of the underground base.

Now, as Ianto forced himself out of bed to follow Jack who'd immediately leapt up and made a run for the computers, he couldn't help but wish that they'd managed to make it home. At least, then he would have been woken up by this obnoxious blaring. "What's going on?" Ianto asked, rubbing his eyes as he reached the workstations Jack was running around. How the guy had that much energy immediately after being woken up in the dead of night, Ianto had no idea.

"It looks like every single United States Government agency has just received emails containing the Torchwood name," Jack answered him as he furiously typed away on the keyboard at Tosh's workstation.

"So much for Torchwood being a secret organisation," Ianto muttered. "First Cardiff, now America."

"Get onto that computer. Start deleting all mention of Torchwood. Use the Retcon malware," Jack ordered, not even looking Ianto's way as his focus was entirely taken by the computer screen. Ianto didn't waste time in moving to the computer at Owen's workstation, more awake at this point. "Let's at least try and keep Torchwood as a local secret."

"Yep. The last thing we need are Americans bossing us around," Ianto smirked as he set to work on Owen's computer. He received nothing more than a playful glare in response to his comment.

"I want to make sure we haven't gained any unwanted attention," Jack spoke his intentions out loud as he continued to type away at Tosh's computer. "Of course the CIA has nothing better to do than to try and figure out what random email messages mean," Jack muttered a few minutes later.

"I've deleted all mention of Torchwood," Ianto told him as he stepped back from Owen's workstation, frowning when he glanced at Jack's screen and realising it looked like he was buying plane tickets. "Let them try and fail."

"Archives," was all Jack had to say for Ianto to catch on. It was far too early in the morning for all this, and he didn't even know what time it was. Written records were a pain. He should know, he spends half his time organising Torchwood's own records. "Ianto Jones! Care to accompany me to the great land of America?" Jack grinned, offering his arm to the younger man.

"Only if you let me sleep on the plane," Was Ianto's response after stifling a yawn before he proceeded to walk straight past Jack, heading straight for the exit of the hub.

"Hey!" He heard Jack call behind him, followed by the quick movement of feet as Jack ran to catch up with him.

 **TWMD**

Owen Harper groaned as he heard his phone go off. Was his alarm really going already? He squinted at the digital clock to the side of his bed, the red numbers flashing 2.30am. That wouldn't be his alarm. He reached for his phone as he heard Tosh stir in the bed next to him. It was just over three years since the pair of them had nearly died: he'd narrowly avoided getting trapped in a nuclear power station only to find Tosh had been shot by Jack's brother. It had been touch and go but Tosh had eventually recovered and Owen had wasted no time in making sure they'd actually gone on the date they'd been talking about for months. Though he wasn't sure he would have believed anyone if they'd told him then that he'd still be with her three years later.

Owen glanced at the caller ID on the screen before deciding whether to answer or not. The ID read 'teaboy' and Owen groaned before hitting answer. After all, the world could be in serious danger. For Ianto's sake, the world had better be in serious danger. "This better be something that couldn't last until morning, Ianto," Owen growled down the phone. Tosh sat up beside him. The only time they got calls from Jack or Ianto so late was when they were getting called into the hub. She nudged Owen's side and he pulled the phone away from his ear, putting Ianto onto speakerphone.

"Jack and I are heading to the airport-" Was all Ianto managed to get out before he was interrupted.

"Is there an alien invasion there?" Tosh questioned, eyes wide and pretty much ready to jump out of bed.

"What? No!" Ianto's voice came through the phone. Owen could tell the other man was only half awake himself. "I'm going to America with Jack-" Once again, Ianto got cut off before he could finish.

"Doesn't sound like something that couldn't last until morning, Ianto," Owen muttered down the phone.

"The CIA have been tipped on- JACK! THAT WAS A RED LIGHT!"

"It's an emergency."

"Being late for a plane is not an emergency. It's called bad time management."

"It was either a 3.30 flight or an 8.30 flight. The CIA will already have an eleven hour head start."

"Whatever. Where was I?" Ianto attempted to return his attention back to his conversation with Owen but his tiredness wasn't helping.

"Something about the CIA," Tosh prompted, very interested in finding out just what was going on.

"Oh yes. The CIA received an email tipping them off about Torchwood. We deleted all mention of Torchwood online but they're going to have written records in America. We're hoping to get to them before the CIA does," Ianto reported what had happened to Owen and Tosh, trying to keep it short. The speed Jack was driving at, they'd be at the airport any minute. If they didn't crash, that was. "Anyway, I just needed to let you know before we got on the plan that you've got the hub to yourself. Jack says you can cope with the minor stuff yourself but anything big happens to the rift whilst we're gone; he expects a phone call. I sent Tosh a text about making sure Myfanwy is fed as well as instructions on how to use the coffee machine. You're banned from using it Owen. I don't need another blown up coffee machine. Tosh only. Anyway! Got to go. Jack's got us to the airport in record time. I won't be surprised if you get a few speeding tickets come through to the hub whilst we're away."

"Oi!" Was the last thing Tosh and Owen heard from Jack and Ianto before the call disconnected.

"Well that was worth being woken up at two in the morning for," Owen muttered as he lay back down on the bed.

 **TWMD**

 _Ianto gagged, eyes wide in terror, knife held to his throat. Jack falling to the ground dead, electricity still passing through him. Tosh, lying unconscious in a hospital bed, not even a bandage stopping the blood from leaking out of her gunshot wound. Owen, pale skinned and stone dead on the Torchwood morgue table. Rhys, stabbed, in a pool of his own blood._

Gwen Cooper woke with a start, gasping for breath as she sat up in bed. Her jerk as she woke must have woken Rhys for she jumped when she suddenly heard his voice in the darkness. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Don't know. Just, bad dream," Gwen explained as she struggled to gather her thoughts.

"What about?" Rhys questioned through the dark.

"Oh, what do you think? Torchwood." Gwen answered him before she leaned back against the headrest of the bed. She loved Torchwood. Loved her job. It was exhilarating. The people she got to work with weren't too bad either. But how long until someone got killed?

 **TWMD**

When they'd reached the airport, the rush for the plane had very much reminded Ianto of Home Alone, except their running had been constantly stopped by security checks. Ianto had given himself a moment of amusement when they'd reached passport control. The realisation on Jack's face that he hadn't picked up his passport had been quite amusing and Ianto had left Jack to unsuccessfully attempt to blag his way through using his rank as a Captain. It was when Jack adapted his usual technique of flirting his way out of a bad situation that Ianto pulled Jack's passport out of his pocket, remaining completely silent as he held it out for the other man to take.

The flight was not exactly relaxing. Ianto had hoped to catch up on some sleep during the eight and a half hour plane ride. He should have known that was never going to happen realistically when sat next to Jack. It certainly didn't help that a family with six children were sat in front of them. It was nearing the end of the flight when Ianto finally felt himself falling off to sleep. The feeling of a finger poking his side made his eyes snap open and he turned to Jack, tired, grumpy and unamused. "What?"

"I need to get to the toilet," Jack told him as he stood up.

Ianto sighed, unbuckling his belt. "This is why I said you should take the aisle seat," he reminded Jack. Jack had refused without giving Ianto a real reason why. By this point, Ianto was convinced that Jack had planned all along to keep him awake throughout the flight. He probably even bribed the kids in front to keep having temper tantrums. "Just hurry up," he said as he moved into the aisle to let Jack out.

"How about you come with me?" Jack suggested, a smirk on his face. Ianto was far too tired to entertain Jack's suggestive comments.

"It's far too small," Ianto turned him down before collapsing into Jack's seat, leaving Jack with no choice but to take the aisle seat on his return. Hopefully with Jack going to the toilet, he could actually get some sleep.

When Jack returned, Ianto had just fallen asleep, his head dropping forward so that his chin was inches from his chest.

"That bathroom would have been a perfect size," Jack spoke near Ianto's ear, his voice low, as he sat down in the aisle seat. Ianto jerked awake, far from near the deep sleep stage, and glared at Jack.

"I was _asleep_!" Ianto exclaimed, trying his best not to shout. He wasn't going to be responsible for waking up the entire plane.

"Maybe on the way back, you won't make me think I don't have my passport," Jack replied, smiling and looking very pleased with himself. Which did nothing to help his case, only annoying Ianto further.

"You haven't let me sleep because of _that?_ " Ianto scoffed. Jack really was unbelievable sometimes. The other man just shrugged in response, neither confirming or denying Ianto's statement.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen: we are beginning are descent."_

"So much for sleeping on the plane," Ianto muttered to himself.

And as they got off the plane, Ianto could have sworn he saw Jack handing over packets of sweets to the temper tantrum kids in front of them.

 **TWMD**

By 8am, the images of death Gwen had experienced that night had been forgotten, replaced by the normality of feeding her baby daughter. She loved Anwen and Rhys, of course, but she grew bored of the mundane routine of each day. At least with Torchwood, every day was different, there was no normal when it came to Torchwood and so, she found herself sat in their kitchen, feeding Anwen, whilst recounting old stories of her days at Torchwood.

Rhys wasn't so keen on that when he overheard her. He was convinced their lives in Cardiff had become a nightmare. They didn't argue much, but when they did, returning to Cardiff and their old lives was often the reason for it. A knock at the door prevented them from getting into a full blown argument about it. Instead, Gwen and Rhys stared at each other, the latter deciding it would be helpful to point out the obvious by saying someone was at the door.

Upon more knocks, the pair jumped into action, heading straight for the armoury they'd installed upon moving into the house. Eventually, gun in hand, Gwen pulled the door open to the sight of some hikers who immediately started talking away. Gwen was too relieved to listen properly to what they were saying.

"It's private property. I'm busy," she told them bluntly before slamming the door shut on the pair. How close had she come to shooting them?

"Get off my land," Rhys mimicked her with a smile, lowering the gun he was holding.

"I could have shot them!" Gwen snapped. Torchwood was really enjoying messing with her today apparently. She'd rather just go back to Cardiff. At least then, there wouldn't be any uncertainty about whether anything bad was going on. She'd be in the loop, getting the alerts whenever they came in.

"Hey, hey. We're safe , sweetheart. No one knows we're here. We've left all that behind for now. No more Torchwood, right?"


	2. The New World Part 2

**Chapter 2**

"Oh you are so cheating!" Rhys exclaimed, a grin on his face as he spoke. Gwen and Rhys had both been saying, for at least a year now, that on particular wall in the house badly required redecorating. It was only as they were sat bored, trying to figure out what to do with themselves after putting Anwen down for her usual nap, that Rhys digged the paint out and they set to work on actually doing something about it.

"Cheating? How can I cheat painting a wall?" Gwen laughed at the ridiculousness of Rhys' accusation. "Only a man could turn this into a competition."

"You just went whoosh," Rhys defended his accusation with a swing of the roller he was holding in order to demonstrate just what he was going on about.

"Well, look, whoosh," Gwen laughed as she ran her own roller over the wall again, adding to the paint which already covered that section from previous strokes.

"With one stroke! That's hardly a coat," Rhys argued playfully as he also laughed. It was in moments like these that Gwen could understand why Rhys would want to live in such an isolated area, free of Torchwood. Gwen couldn't help but wonder what their life together would have been like if she'd never met a certain Captain Jack Harkness. If she'd never joined Torchwood. If she'd kept her normal job in the police force.

Unfortunately, the moment didn't last very long at all. The ring of a mobile phone interrupted their painting session and filled Gwen with immediate dread. There were only two reasons why that phone would ring. Torchwood needed her help in a worldwide threat or… she didn't even want to start considering the other option. Give her a worldwide catastrophe any day. "Oh bollocks, oh bollocks. Bollocks," she muttered as she rushed towards the unit with the drawers the phone would be in.

"It might be nothing," Rhys contributed unhelpfully as he followed her to the unit, and the drawer she'd now pulled open and was fumbling around in, in search of the phone. "It's probably Owen with another April Fool's joke."

"Its July, Rhys!" Gwen snapped at him, briefly glancing up from her mad search through the drawer to glare at him. "There's only two reasons why that phone would ring," she reminded him as she returned her focus to her mad and panicked search. "Where have you put it? Where have you put it?" She questioned, her voice getting louder as she grew more panicked.

"It's in here," Rhys told her, pointing to a different drawer and managing to remain calm despite Gwen's increasing worry. There was no need to panic until they knew the exact reason for the call. If it turned out to be another one of Owen's jokes though, he'd happily return to Cardiff just to have an interesting meeting with Torchwood's resident doctor.

"What is it? What's happening?" Gwen demanded to whoever the poor person on the other side of the phone was. For the first time since the phone rang, Gwen fell quiet and the look on her face told Rhys it definitely wasn't Owen on the other side of the call. "It's my dad. He's in hospital," Gwen reported back to Rhys after hanging up the phone. The panic had disappeared from Gwen's voice at this point. Instead, she sounded lost, struggling to put her thoughts together and figure out just what was going on. "Er, I've got to see him," she realised. "I'm sorry, Rhys. We've got to go back."

Going back to see her father was one thing. Rhys was completely understanding of that. But why did he feel like returning to Cardiff would result in Gwen being tempted back to Torchwood?

 **TWMD**

Esther Drummond was intrigued. The email containing the word 'Torchwood' had caught her attention. The CIA got all sorts of spam emails each day but this one was different. This one had caught the attention of the CIA and, despite her own attempts to find out more about Torchwood, there was no mention of it online. Absolutely nothing. That was weird. Not to mention the fact that Friedkin was so interested in this Torchwood organisation. That only added to her intrigue. To top it off, this happening at the same time the world changed overnight? If it wasn't connected, it was super coincidental. Deleting things from the internet. That was easy with the right tools. Deleting written records? Not so easy. And that was how Esther ended up in the archives, face to face with an archivist who kind of looked like he'd rather be somewhere else. "Friedkin's office took all the Torchwood files. Cleared us all out," he told her nothing but what she already knew. Regardless, there was chance that something had been missed.

"I know," Esther replied. That part wasn't lying. "He sent me to double check," That seemed believable. Build on that. "Because files get left behind, and especially if there's a hard copy inside an associated pile. That sort of thing always gets missed. Just need to check the associations." Esther held her breath as she watched the archivist, hoping the man wouldn't see straight through her.

"Okay," the archivist bought it, and Esther let out a subtle sigh of relief. But the archives were huge; that was part of the reason Esther was so sure something about Torchwood must have been left behind. It could take her all night to find something. Unless she could convince the archivist to point her in the right direction.

"Not sure where to begin," Esher admitted, hoping to prompt a hint out of him.

"Better find out then," was the archivist's oh-so-helpful response. Then again, the man didn't seem like the kind of person who was passionate about, or enjoyed, his job. He probably didn't know where to start himself.

"Right. Okay. Thanks," Esther spoke as she moved around the desk, heading for the archives. She wasn't too sure why she'd thanked him. The man had been less than helpful but at least he hadn't stopped her from accessing the archives. Now, where to begin?

 **TWMD**

After getting no sleep on the plane, thanks to a certain Captain, Ianto had been more than happy to let Jack drive to the CIA archives. The hiring of the courtesy car had been quick and easy, much to Ianto's surprise, and Ianto had hoped to get some sleep in the car. That was until he sat down in the passenger seat and checked his phone to find six missed calls, all from Rhiannon. "That's not worrying at all," he muttered to himself as he clicked to call her back.

"Huh?" Jack said, glancing between Ianto and the road as he wasted no time in setting off for the archives.

"Rhi. I've got six missed calls," Ianto explained to Jack, just as the line connected when Rhi answered his call.

" _It's about bloody time! I've been trying to get a hold of you all morning!"_ Came his sister's voice down the phone.

"Hello to you too, Rhi," Ianto responded with a slight laugh. The fact that she hadn't immediately started ranting told him nothing serious had happened. The last time he'd called her after receiving missed calls, she had rambled on about David's injury and whether it sounded bad enough to take him to A&E for at least five minutes before he could even get a word in.

" _Have you seen the news, Ianto?"_

"I've been on a plane, _trying_ to sleep," Ianto denied, sending Jack a playful glare as he spoke. Jack only smiled at him.

" _What have you been doing on a plane?"_

" _Trying_ to sleep."

" _I mean where are you? Not literally what you've been doing."_

"I'm in America."

" _What the bloody hell are you doing in America?"_

"Working."

" _Is your handsome boss with you?"_

"No! Well, yeah. But it's strictly a work trip. Don't look at me like that, Jack! Just… concentrate on driving. I don't want to die in a car crash."

" _No but that's what I called to tell you!"_ Rhi apparently seemed to remember the purpose of her call.

"What? That my boss is going to kill me?"

" _Ianto! This is serious. The whole world has changed. No one has died."_

Rhi seemed determined not to let them go off topic again and her words grabbed Ianto's interest. "Hold on. Let me put you on speaker. Jack listen to this," Ianto instructed after he placed the phone onto speaker mode and set it down on the car's dashboard. "Go on Rhi," he prompted.

" _It's all over the news! No one has died. Not a single person in the entire world has died in more than thirty six hours. No one is dying."_

Jack and Ianto just stared at each other. They had both dealt with some weird stuff during their time at Torchwood, but the absence of a single death across the planet in so long a period of time? That took the biscuit.

" _Ianto? Are you still there? Ianto?"_

"Are you sure she's not pulling your leg?" Was the only response to the information that Jack could come up with. Humans die. It's a part of life. He knew that more than anyone. No deaths in over thirty six hours? That just wasn't possible.

" _Who was that?"_

There was an audible gasp from the phone and Ianto could have sworn he heard cog's whirring as Rhi pieced it all together.

" _Is that your boss?"_

Following Rhi's exclamation down the phone, Ianto and Jack's eyes met for the briefest of seconds before they both made a move for the phone sat on the dashboard. Ianto was too slow and Jack beat him to it. "Captain Jack Harkness speaking," he grinned as he made sure to hold the phone as far away from Ianto as possible.

" _You're a Captain?"_

Ianto groaned. This wasn't going to go well for him. "Jack. You're driving," Ianto pointed out to him.

"I can multitask. Then again, you're fully aware of that," Jack spoke, a beaming grin on his face as he winked at Ianto.

"My sister is listening Jack!" Ianto exclaimed, immediately turning red as he thought of all the different ways in which Rhi could interpret Jack's comment.

" _Oh shut up Ianto! It can't be much different from the sort of things me and Johnny-"_

Ianto couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I don't need to know about your sex life Rhi," he interrupted as quickly as he could. He glanced at Jack, only to see him struggling to stop himself from bursting out in laughter. "This isn't funny Jack!"

" _Leave Jack alone Ianto. I'm still annoyed that you haven't introduced us properly yet. You two have been together for around three years now and this is the first time I've even spoken to him."_

"If this is how it goes down on the phone, do you really expect me to introduce the pair of you?" Ianto questioned, though he could understand her point. She'd found out about Jack's existence two years ago now and she'd yet to meet him.

It wasn't for lack of trying though. Shortly after the 456 incident, Rhi had invited them both around for dinner. A minor weevil injury on Ianto's behalf had led to them cancelling that. 'A cat scratched me' just wasn't an excuse that would hold up.

Rhi had tried again at Christmas, inviting them around for dinner on Christmas day. However, some idiot – namely Owen – had decided it was a good idea to plan the Torchwood Christmas party for Christmas Eve. The next thing both Jack and Ianto knew, it was Boxing Day and even then, neither of them were in a fit state to function properly.

Rhi had tried again for Ianto's birthday but Ianto had experienced the worst birthday ever when he woke up the morning of his birthday to the horrible symptoms of food poisoning. Jack had been uncharacteristically romantic the previous evening, cooking Ianto a full three course meal. That was the last time Ianto ever ate anything Jack made.

The Christmas just gone, Jack and Ianto had attempted to invite Rhi and her family to Ianto's flat to celebrate together. Against the spirit of Christmas, the Davies' family car was nicked Christmas morning and the charge for a taxi on such a day was not deemed to be worth it.

"As soon as we get back from America, I'll make sure Ianto arranges a dinner for us to meet properly," Jack told Rhi over the phone.

" _Sounds great. But Jack, what I said about people not dying. It really is true."_

"Don't worry. We'll look into it," Jack told her, earning a sharp look from Ianto.

" _You'll look into it? I thought you were civil servants? No offense, but what can you two do about it?"_

"He _meant_ look into the news reports," Ianto cut in quickly before Jack could even open his mouth to respond. When he noticed that they were pulling into the car park of the CIA archives, Ianto could have leapt for joy. "Look, Rhi, I've got to go. We're at our… meeting."

" _Alright Ianto. We'll talk later but I better get that meeting with your boyfriend."_

And with that, the line went dead.

Jack and Ianto just glanced awkwardly at each other. It had been years, but they still actively dodged terms that suggested commitment to a relationship.

 **TWMD**

It felt like hours had passed but Esther finally found what she was looking for, with a little help from the 456. Pulling the lid off the brown box, the first thing Esther came across were pictures, clipped to the front of a file. The first one looked old; some World War 2 RAF captain from the looks of it. It seemed out of place. Especially when all the other pictures looked so modern. Gwen Cooper… Owen Harper… Toshiko Sato… Ianto Jones. Were these four people a part of Torchwood? And who was the World War 2 guy?

A sudden noise interrupted Esther and her head jerked up in search of the source of the noise. Down the corridor, were the shadowy figures of two people. They were looking straight at her. Once looked to be dressed in a suit whilst the other's clothing strangely resembled the clothing of the World War 2 guy in the picture she'd just seen.

"Come with me," a fellow American voice ordered.

 _No chance._ Esther turned and ran.

 **TWMD**

"Come with me?" Ianto repeated, a smirk visible on his face as Jack turned to face him. "That wasn't ominous at all. No wonder she ran."

"Can we at least handle the situation before we start discussing how it could have been handled better?" Jack questioned before he set off running back in the direction they'd came. It only made logical sense that the woman would make a run for the exit.

Ianto set off after Jack and the pair rounded on the front desk of the archives to find the blonde had stopped in her tracks. She was stood, staring at the archivist, whose white shirt was now red from blood. Ianto couldn't get a good look at his wound from the angle he was at, but he was pretty sure the guy should be dead. But he was breathing. Rhi had been right.

Ianto glanced behind them as he pulled out his gun. The archivist had been alive and well just a few minutes ago. Who had shot him? And where had they gone?

"Down!" Jack's shout was the only form of warning Ianto got before a series of bullets rang out. It didn't last long. Jack hitting the man with the machine gun straight in the neck had put an end to their little encounter.

Jack and Esther went straight for the man with the machine gun who had fallen to the floor as a result of being shot. Ianto took a step to follow them but tripped, hitting the floor himself, pain shooting through his chest as he made contact with the floor. Ianto didn't waste any time pushing himself back up to his feet. Apparently, he was now too exhausted to even walk properly. This was all Jack's fault.

Ianto reached Jack, the blonde and the downed machine gun man in time to see Jack rip the man's jacket open. Bomb. What was it with Torchwood and explosives. "Ianto! Come on!" Jack shouted urgently. Ianto looked up from the machine gun man to see both Jack and the blonde disappear out of the window. Ianto followed their lead, falling through the air and hitting the water. Hard.

Ianto resurfaced to the sight of the entire building alit with flames. That had been close and the sight of the flames instantly made Ianto think of the wreckage of the old hub. Standing on the bridge, watching as MI5 scoured the wreckage, watching as they found various body parts belonging to Jack. Despite how much he'd refused to believe Jack was dead, Ianto hadn't been sure whether the immortal man would make it back from that.

"Ianto!" The immortal man's voice snapped his attention back to their current situation. "Are you hurt? Ianto!"

"What? No. I'm fine Jack," Ianto answered him as he moved to get himself out of the fountain water. The _red_ water. Huh. That's not normal. "Who's hurt?" He asked as he climbed out of the fountain, pulling his suit jacket on tighter. It was early morning. The sun had yet to come out. And he was cold.

Jack was looking from his arm to the fountain water, looking puzzled. "I cut my arm," he admitted, turning his attention to Ianto and Esther. "But that's a lot of blood for a cut."

Ianto barely glanced at the cut on Jack's arms. Jack's injuries didn't bother him anymore. They always healed fasted than the average person's. "You've probably hit a vein," Ianto dismissed. "I'm sure you'll live."

"Maybe you should get a bandage for it. There's a pharmacy just down the street," Esther suggested, displaying more concern than Ianto. Though she didn't know about Jack's efficient healing capabilities.

"I'll be fine," Jack told her as he rolled his sleeve down, already starting to forget about the cut on his arm. "Ianto, any chance of some sparkling water?"

 **TWMD**

Ianto stood in the small store he'd found, coincidentally right next door to the pharmacy Esther had mentioned, a small smile on his face as he looked at the sparkling water on the shelves in front of him. Jack hated sparkling water. The term had become Torchwood code for water with a hint of retcon. Nevertheless, in order to prevent Esther from getting suspicious, Ianto had to buy Jack some sparkling water to drink. He picked a bottle up from the shelf before grabbing two bottles of ordinary bottles of water and approached the checkout.

Ianto noticed the weird looks he received from the cashier as he approached. Not that he could blame her. He was drenched through, after all. He had to commend the cashier. She did a very good job at acting like there wasn't a soaking wet guy in her shop as he got closer. In fact, she didn't even ask.

"Just these, thank you," Ianto spoke politely to the cashier as he placed his items down on the counter. The exchange was quick; the passing of money and the cheery 'have a nice day' which you would never get in Wales. "You don't have a bathroom I could use, by any chance do you?"

"Of course, sir," the woman behind the counter smiled at him as she gave him directions.

"Thank you," Ianto smiled back at her before heading for the bathroom.

The bathroom was clean. That was the first thing Ianto noticed. It seemed relatively unused by that was probably because it seemed more like a store cupboard than a bathroom. Ianto double checked that he'd locked the door before he pulled back his jacket with the intention to get the retcon pill out of his inner pocket. Except he froze. Staring, jaw dropped at the sight of his red shirt. Except, he was pretty sure he hadn't put a red shirt on that morning. The shirt had been white. Ianto fumbled with the top three buttons of his shirt, pulling it apart to reveal a bullet hole in his chest, right above his heart.

It's funny how adrenaline keeps your body going. Ianto hit the floor with a thud.


	3. The New World Part 3

**Chapter 3**

With the knowledge that both Jack and Ianto had suddenly packed up and disappeared to America, Owen had planned for a nice lie-in. Especially since he'd been rudely awoken right in the middle of the night. Tosh, however, had made other plans and Owen was literally pushed out of bed at six in the morning.

"We're never in this early on a normal day," Owen complained as they stepped into the hub at seven am sharp.

"This isn't a normal day. With Jack and Ianto gone, we've got double the amount of work to do," Tosh pointed out to him, immediately heading for her workstation, presumably to check on the overnight rift reports.

Owen laughed at that statement. "What work do those two actually do? Jack just walks around the place like he owns it and Ianto just makes coffee, orders food and looks pretty for Jack."

"You're going to wish that's all he does," Tosh replied with a small shake of his head. Did Owen really not appreciate how much Ianto did to help keep Torchwood running smoothly? "Just to start with, the reports from last week need archiving and Myfanwy needs feeding."

"I'll take the pterodactyl, you can do the boring stuff," Owen decided instantly. There was no way he was going to volunteer to spend all morning in those archives. Besides, how hard could it be to feed one pterodactyl?

"Sounds good," Tosh agreed with a smile.

"I need a coffee." Owen decided, turning in the opposite direction and heading straight for the coffee machine. As he walked, he heard Tosh's hurried footsteps following behind him. Apparently, she wasn't that interested in checking the rift report for the night.

"Where are you going?" Tosh called after him as she followed.

"Like I said. Coffee," Owen repeated his intentions as he came to a stop at the coffee machine. He folded his arms as he stared at it, a frown appearing on his face. How the hell was he meant to work a coffee machine? What was wrong with a good old fashioned kettle?

"Ianto was quite explicit about you not using it," Tosh reminded Owen and she didn't blame Ianto for not wanting Owen to use it. The last time Owen had attempted to use the machine, he'd somehow managed to get it stuck on the decaf function. Ianto had resorted to buying a new one in the end.

"I think I know how to use a coffee machine, Tosh," Owen told her, even though he really didn't. When did he ever need to make coffee from such a fancy machine? "But please, go on ahead. We wouldn't want Ianto throwing his toys out the pram because I touched his precious coffee machine," Owen smirked as he took a step back from the machine. Tosh surely knew how to use the stupid thing and it would save him the time of trying to figure out how to work it.

 _BOOM_

As it turned out, Tosh had no clue how to work the thing either.

Ianto was going to be pissed.

 **TWMD**

"Sir?" _Knock, Knock, Knock._ "Sir? Are you alright in there?"

Ianto groaned as his eyes flickered open. His head was pounding, his chest hurt and where exactly was he? It took a few moments for everything to come flooding back: blaring alarms, airplane tickets, America, no one dying, CIA archives, shot in the chest, jump out a window, retcon… _wait! Shot in the chest?_ Ianto jumped to his feet, immediately regretting that decision as his legs felt like jelly and he had to make a desperate grab for the sink to steady himself. Looking into the mirror ahead of him, Ianto spotted a gash on his forehead which hadn't been there before, presumably he'd hit his head off the sink when he fell.

 _Knock, knock._ "Sir?"

"One minute!" Ianto called out, his tone harsher than he'd intended. His top three shirt buttons were undone, he could just about remember undoing them, and in the mirror Ianto could see his gunshot wound pouring out blood. Fast. "Stay calm," Ianto muttered to himself as he reached into his pocket, fumbling for his phone. Hands shaking a little, it took Ianto longer to navigate his phone than usual but he managed to find the right contact and hit call.

" _You'd better be on your way back. I've spent three bloody hours trying to get this stupid bird to eat and it's having none of it."_

"Owen, I need your help. I'm with this guy; he's been shot in the chest, possibly grazed his heart, he's losing blood fast. What do I do?" Ianto questioned, the words spilling out of his mouth at a superfast speed.

" _Just calm down. Slow down. Have you called 999?"_

"It's 911 over here, idiot," Ianto shot back through the phone. Why was he getting hung up on technicalities at a time like this? "And no, I haven't. Whoever shot him could be expecting him at the hospital."

" _What have you and Jack gotten yourselves into? You only went to America to destroy old records."_

"Owen. Please. Concentrate," Ianto growled down the phone as he grabbed a wad of paper towels to put pressure on his wound. He needed to try and slow the bleeding. He knew that much without Owen's doctoring expertise.

" _I don't know what you expect me to suggest. You can't drag an unconscious person around with you."_

"He's not unconscious. Very much awake," Ianto responded with frustration evident in his voice. Owen wasn't being as much help as he'd expected.

" _Right, listen to me Ianto. You need to make sure there's pressure on the wound, preferably find the guy some bandages and a whole load of painkillers. Then you really need to get him some proper medical attention. If he hasn't died from the initial impact, it's not going to be long before he dies from loss of blood."_

"Haven't you seen the news, Owen? No one is dying. You're Torchwood. You should be aware of that. Stop slacking off and actually do your job!" Ianto shot down the phone as a result of pure frustration and exhaustion. He didn't even wait for Owen's response before hanging up and shoving the phone back into his pocket. He needed a pharmacist. Luckily, there was one just next door.

 **TWMD**

"I'm not slacking off! I've been with your stupid pet the past three- oh," Owen pulled the phone away from his ear upon realising Ianto had hung up on him. What was wrong with him? After that, the pterodactyl could starve for all he cared. He needed to find Tosh.

Owen had never felt so relieved to be in the main area of the hub. It had only been three hours since he'd left it for the seemingly quick job of feeding the resident dinosaur but it felt like it had been days. He was pretty sure he had been going crazy with no company save from a stubborn pterodactyl who seemed overly intent on killing him. What had Ianto been teaching the thing? Tosh was stood at her workstation, eyes wide as she stared at her computer screen. "I've just been on the receiving end of a Ianto outburst. He said something weird about no one dying," Owen informed Tosh, suspecting from the way she was looking at her computer that she had some extra information on the subject.

"I know," Tosh responded, confirming Owen's suspicions. "It's all over the news. Not one person has died in more than thirty six hours." Tosh took her eyes off her computer screen to focus on Owen. "They're calling it Miracle Day."

"Miracle Day? More like Debacle Day," Owen scoffed, fully aware that the current health service would not be ready to cope with this change. No one dying meant no way of vacating hospital beds other than curing the person. Hospitals were already overcrowded as it was. "Ianto's with some guy who got shot in the chest. Apparently, the guy's awake but he's going to be losing blood fast. It's not exactly the immortality Jack has, is it?" Owen shook his head slightly as he sat down on his chair, leaning back in it and making himself comfortable. "Nope. I've done the 'should-be-but-isn't' dead thing once. Don't want to do it again." After Jack's use of the resurrection gauntlet had left Owen effectively unable to do essentially anything he had once loved, Tosh had dedicated two years of his life to resolving the problem. Owen could never understand the science behind how she managed to achieve it; he just knew he was forever in her debt.

 **TWMD**

After a quick trip to the twenty-four hour pharmacy, Ianto found himself back in the storage cupboard bathroom of the neighbouring store. The cashier had given him a funny look when he returned to use the bathroom once more, asking him just how much he'd had to drink. As he stood in the bathroom, shirtless and fumbling to apply a bandage to his wound, Ianto realised he would kill for a drink – not that killing even seemed possible anymore.

It didn't take long for Ianto to realise that applying the bandage to his wound would be so much easier with a second pair of hands. Nevertheless, he'd have to make do without. There was certainly no way he was telling Jack what had happened. It already felt like Jack treated him like a china doll some days and Ianto was far too tired and irritable to deal with Jack's fussing. "Fuck!" Ianto muttered through gritted teeth, wincing at the pain that shot through his chest as he wrapped the bandage around his body. Ianto's breathing was heavy as he fought against the pain. His main priority was to get the bandage on, hoping that doing so would effectively slow the bleeding. Then he was going find out just how effective the painkillers he had bought were.

He was about halfway through applying the bandage when his phone started ringing. Ianto groaned: why did people always want to get in contact with him at the worst possible times? Keeping on hand on his bandage so he didn't lose the progress he'd made so far, Ianto used his other hand to pull his phone out of his pocket, answer it, put it on speaker and then drop it down on the side as he returned his attention to applying the bandage. "Yeah?" He answered the call breathlessly before bracing himself and pulling the bandage tight to ensure pressure was maintained on his wound. "Fuck!" He grunted. That had hurt.

" _Ianto? Are you alright?"_

Rhi. Typical. "Yeah," was all Ianto managed as a response before he grunted again as he once more pulled the bandage tight. Whilst he certainly didn't want to suffocate himself, Ianto was fully aware that he had already lost a great deal of blood. The puddle of blood formed on the floor and the fact that he felt extremely faint both ensured he didn't miss that fact.

" _You don't sound it."_

Rhi's voice sounded concerned as it passed through the speakers on Ianto's phone.

"I'm fine." Ianto insisted as he continued his fight with the bandage.

" _You're obviously not fine. Now tell me what's happening before I come to America and hunt you down myself!"_

Ianto laughed at Rhi's comment but immediately regretted that action as pain shot through his body. Bandage finally applied to his wound, Ianto was determined to get some painkillers into his body. The pain of being shot was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. "America's a big place," Ianto pointed out to Rhi as he grabbed one of the packet of painkillers he'd bought out of the carrier bag he'd placed by the door. He'd demanded the strongest painkillers the pharmacy had. Apparently a company by the name of Phicorp had the strongest painkillers with the added bonus that they wouldn't make him feel tired. Ianto would have been impressed if anything could make him feel more tired than he already was. "Trust me Rhi, I'm fine," he insisted once more before swallowing two of the pills.

" _Stop blocking me-"_

"I've got to go Rhi," Ianto cut her off before he could get dragged into a long conversation. He was unscrewing the lid of one of the normal bottles of water he'd bought, retcon pill now in hand. "Jack's going to be wondering where I got to. I'll call you later."

" _Yeah right."_

Rhi's sarcasm filled comment was the last thing Ianto heard from her before the line went dead.

 **TWMD**

By the time Ianto returned to Jack and Esther the fire department had long since arrived and started putting out the raging fire. Ianto had made sure to do his suit jacket up before leaving the bathroom in order to hide his blood stained shirt. There was a small hole in his suit jacket, marking the bullet's entrance but it didn't stand out too much and Ianto was pretty confident that Jack wouldn't notice. At least until it started getting a bit lighter.

Jack and Esther had moved further from the water fountain they'd jumped into and were sitting, engrossed in conversation, on a nearby bench. Jack, who had been growing increasingly concerned by the amount of time Ianto was taking, leaped up from his seat when he saw Ianto, stalking over to him. "What took so long?" He question on his approach then frowned when he saw the gash on Ianto's head. "What happened to you?"

"I got into a fight with a sink. It won," Ianto explained vaguely and winced when Jack softly ran his fingers above the cut on his head. He pulled his head back from Jack's touch. "It's fine. It'll heal," he insisted before Jack could even say anything.

"You're really pale," Jack informed him, hints of concern in his voice. Ianto wasn't surprised that he look pale considering how bad he felt. His legs felt like they were going to give up on him any moment and he constantly felt like he was going to be sick.

"I'm dosed up on painkillers," he told Jack as he pulled a bottle of sparkling water out of the carrier bag he held. "There's your drink," he passed the bottle to Jack before walking past him and going straight to Esther. "I got you some water," he told her, holding it out for her to take. "I thought you might be thirsty."

Esther looked up when he spoke and smiled at him as she took the bottle of water, "Thank you."

Ianto smiled back at her before making a sudden move for the bench and sat down next to her. His legs had suddenly weakened even further and he wasn't sure how much longer he would have remained standing up. "Don't mention it. It's the least I could do. How are you holding up?" Ianto asked her as Jack returned to the bench, taking a seat next to Ianto.

"I'm alright… I think," Esther answered though she didn't seem so convinced herself. Ianto's eyes flicked to the water bottle she was holding and noticed her fingers playing with the label. "We got shot at… that man…" It appeared that Esther had still not processed what had happened, despite the amount of time Ianto had been gone for.

"He was after us, not you," Jack spoke up. Jack must have also noticed that the bullets the man had fired were aimed in their direction as opposed to Esther's. That should at least give her some piece of mind. At least she didn't have to worry about people coming after her. Not that she was going to remember it, if she actually got around to drinking the water.

"Why? Why would he want you two dead?" Esther questioned, water remaining untouched as she glanced between Jack and Ianto, waiting expectantly for an answer from either of the two men.

"On the very day that no one's dying? Wish I knew," Jack answered. Ianto couldn't agree more when it came to wishing they knew. The last time a building had blown up and someone tried to kill them, the whole team at almost died at numerous points and the whole world had been thrown into chaos. Now, it looked to be heading that way again.

"I'm not even authorised for this. But this friend of mine… I was telling him about Torchwood and he crashed his car while I was talking to him. And… I can't help thinking… that it's all my fault," Esther told them and it was evident, from her hesitancy as she spoke, that she was beating herself up about the incident.

"I know the feeling," Jack responded, his eyes briefly meeting Ianto's and Ianto instantly knew that Jack's thoughts had gone to Steven. Jack had saved ten percent of the world's children – including Ianto's niece and nephew – but it had required the ultimate sacrifice and Ianto was sure that Jack would never forgive himself.

"So what is Torchwood?" Esther answered, still yet to even uncap the water bottle clutched in both her hands.

"It's a secret organisation," Ianto spoke up, vaguely answering his question. Because that was what it was meant to be. _Secret._ Not a place that the entirety of the Cardiff population could direct someone to as if it were a tourist destination. Ianto frowned when he caught Jack rubbing the area of his arm he'd cut after their jump from the CIA archives. "What's wrong with your arm?" He questioned.

Jack pulled his coat off in a hurry, pushing his sleeve back to reveal the cut. Ianto stared at Jack's arm. That wasn't good. "It's not healing," Jack pointed out the obvious.

"It is going to take longer than half an hour to heal," Esther spoke up and Ianto shot Jack a look which clearly stated that they would talk about it later. "Considering what we just went through, I would say that's a miracle."

 _The miracle is that I'm not a pile of ashes._ Ianto thought. Jack's cut was certainly not a miracle as far as Ianto was concerned. It was confusing, it was worrying and it was annoying him that he didn't know why it wasn't healing.

"Yeah, another one," Jack just agreed distantly as he lowered his arm again. "The Torchwood Institute was set up by the British royal family in 1879 to defend the realm of Great Britain by investigating the unusual, the strange and the alien." Ianto rolled his eyes as Jack, once again, decided to ignore the fact that Torchwood was meant to be a secret organisation. Their plan was to retcon Esther so there shouldn't be any worry of her remembering the conversation but she still hadn't touched her water.

"I'm kind of guessing alien doesn't mean foreign," Esther said, attention fully on Jack as the information about Torchwood captivated her. The way Jack was maintaining her attention, Ianto wasn't sure she would ever drink any of her water.

"Alien as in extraterrestial," Jack confirmed.

"Oh my God," Esther breathed out.

"This whole situation worldwide, that's exactly the kind of thing we investigate," Jack continued to spill information about Torchwood as Esther continued to show no interest in the drugged bottle of water Ianto had given her.

"So that first email last night, the one that just said Torchwood?" Esther prompted Jack for more information and Ianto had straightened slightly when she began to uncap her bottle whilst talking. After she'd asked her question, Ianto's eyes tracked the bottle as she lifted it up to her lips and _finally_ drank from it.

Now they were in business.

"That wasn't us," Ianto answered her.

"God knows who it was," Jack added.

"But it was enough to set off the alarms back at our base," Ianto continued.

"Ianto got to work releasing some malware, destroying hard copies, removing all traces of Torchwood online. Using Retcon," Jack finished, looking at Esther expectantly when he mentioned Retcon.

Esther was too busy putting the cap back onto her water bottle to properly think of a response. Ianto leaned closer to her. "What's retcon?" He prompted her in barely more than a whisper.

Esther turned to look at Ianto momentarily before her attention snapped back to Jack, "What's Retcon?"

"It's a smart drug," Jack answered, a smug look appearing on his face at that point.

"Selective amnesia," Ianto explained further.

Esther looked from Jack to Ianto continuously as the realisation of what they told her set in. "No," she pleaded as her eyes fell to the water bottle in her hand. Ianto couldn't help but feel guilty when he saw the look on her face.

"You won't remember a thing," Jack felt the need to tell her. Ianto was pretty convinced that she'd already worked that part out. Why else would they go to the effort to erase part of her memory if she was only going to be able to put the pieces back together? Jack had tampered with the recipe since he had used it on Gwen almost five years ago. The drug worked faster and Esther slouched into Ianto's arms.

Jack stood up, looking eager to move on as he chucked his bottle of sparkling water into a nearby bin. "Back to Cardiff?" Ianto suggested as he slowly got himself up off the bench, being careful not to jerk Esther too much and he tried his best to make her comfortable before he moved away from the bench. They had done what they had come to do. All written record of Torchwood in the CIA archives was well and truly destroyed.

"No." Jack's response was not expected. "The whole world has changed. We're sticking around. I want to find out more."


	4. The New World Part 4

**Chapter 4**

American hotels were nice with their cheery, helpful staff, their grand rooms and their large comfortable beds which he could easily get lost in. At least, that's what Ianto assumed when he thought of American hotels. What did he get instead? A cold, empty warehouse with a thin roll out mat to act as a bed.

It was six in the morning by the time they found a derelict warehouse and set up base but Ianto had crashed, falling straight to sleep almost as soon as he lay on his roll out mat. Jack wasn't sleeping. He had the laptop out, searching for as much information about the miracle as he could, which also included scouring through a great deal of conspiracy theories which filled up the google search results for the term 'Miracle Day'. The internet connection they had were slow and so Jack would continually peek over the top of the laptop screen to watch Ianto as he slept. The younger man looked so peaceful when he was asleep and Jack couldn't stop himself from smiling at the sight.

The sound of a phone ringing suddenly filled the warehouse. Jack glanced at his phone, placed next to the laptop he was using, to see it wasn't the phone receiving the call. Jack jumped up and moved closer to the sleeping Ianto, who hadn't even stirred despite the phone ringing, and found the ringing phone on the floor near Ianto's head. He picked the phone up and accepted the call. "Hello, Ianto's phone. Jack speaking," he answered.

" _Jack. It's Rhiannon. What's happened to Ianto?"_

Rhiannon's voice sounded full of panic and concern as it flowed into Jack's ear. It made Jack so convinced that something bad had happened that he had to glance at the sleeping Ianto to make sure he was still alive and well. "Nothing's happened to him," Jack replied confused. Why did Rhiannon sound so panicked?

" _Oh. Are you sure?"_

Rhiannon sounded less panicked the second time she spoke. Instead, her concerned tone was replaced with one of confusion. "Pretty sure, yep," Jack confirmed following another quick glance down at the sleeping Ianto. "Looking at him right now. He's fast asleep."

" _Oh right."_

"You alright?" Jack checked when Rhiannon sounded like she was a little freaked out.

" _Do you have any siblings Jack?"_

The question seemed to come out of nowhere and repressed memories suddenly flooded back to Jack. _Gray._ Another loved one's blood on his hands. Even if he hadn't killed Gray himself, he'd killed Gray when he let go of his hand. That was when his sweet, caring little brother died. The Gray he faced so many years later wasn't his brother. Not the one he cared to remember. "I did."

" _I'm sorry Jack... But did you ever get these horrible feelings and you can't explain how but you just knew that something bad had happened to them?"_

"Yeah…" Jack breathed out in response, his voice hardly audible.

" _I feel stupid now you've said that he's find."_ Jack heard the slightest of laughs from Rhiannon's side of the call. _"It sounded like he was in pain when I phoned earlier. Then he said he'd call me back. That never happened. Not that I expected it to. Typical Ianto. He's always shutting me out. But then I have had this horrible feeling since I woke up and that CIA archive building blowing up came up on a google search. I don't even know where you are in America! I'm just working myself up."_

"Don't feel stupid. Ianto's lucky to have a sister who cares so much," Jack told her. He'd met so many people who'd had tense relationships with their siblings. This was a nice change. Even if Ianto wasn't the most open with her. "We are in DC, but we were nowhere near that explosion. I promise he's fine. I'll keep him safe."

" _Thank you Jack. I hope we get the chance to meet soon."_

The call disconnected.

 **TWMD**

Ianto awoke to a strong pain in his chest. He sat up with a grunt as his hand went to his chest. Ianto felt a strange, sticky sensation underneath his hand and pulled it away to find his hand covered in blood. Ianto immediately glanced down to see the red t-shirt he was wearing had a much darker patch of red in the area which covered the bandage he'd applied to his wound. Ianto looked down to his side, finding Jack fast asleep beside him, before he pulled his shirt off. The blood had leaked through the bandage. That wasn't good.

Following a swift change of his bandage, an unsuccessful search for his phone, the consumption of a couple of Phicorp painkillers and a change of clothes which consisted of a dark red shirt, Ianto took a trip to the nearby dumpsters. The bandage and the blood stained t-shirt were thrown in without a second's thought. The last thing Ianto needed was for Jack to find any evidence that he'd injured himself. The Miracle meant no one could die. Ianto was convinced he'd been fine.

When Ianto got back to the warehouse, Jack was awake and fully dressed but not in his usual attire. "Is that my suit?" Ianto questioned, folding his arms as he looked at Jack.

"Maybe? I'm just borrowing it for the day," Jack told him in response before holding his arms out. "How do I look?"

"Common courtesy suggests it's good to ask before you borrow something," Ianto pointed out as his eyes flicked over Jack's appearance. "Blue is definitely your colour."

"You weren't here to ask," Jack used as his excuse. "Where did you go?"

"Took the rubbish out," Ianto answered him as he spotted his phone by the laptop that Jack was packing away. Ianto was confused as he went and picked it up. He could have sworn he'd had it on him when he'd decided to get some sleep. Weird. "Are we going somewhere?" He asked Jack, the fact that Jack had borrowed one of his suits was a clear sign that he was planning something.

"I thought we'd pay our trigger happy friend from last night a little visit," Jack explained as he put the laptop into its bag. He looked up at Ianto, "Turns out not even a bomb can kill you now. I need to see this miracle for myself."

"Great. This shouldn't be gory at all," Ianto muttered sarcastically.

"It's a good job we've skipped breakfast," Jack grinned as he set off for the door of the warehouse.

Ianto couldn't agree more. Whilst no one could die, it had become plainly obvious that magical healing powers didn't come with this form of immortality. It was nowhere as advanced as Jack's immortality. Speaking of. "Jack. How's your arm?" Ianto asked upon realising they never did get back to that conversation. Ianto had been far too exhausted. But Jack's lack of healing had been worrying. It was a sign that Jack's immortality was not as strong as it used to be, if it was even there at all. If the entirety of Earth's population had been given immortality, it would make logical sense for Jack to be mortal. That thought scared Ianto massively; Jack had developed a limited sense of danger due to his trick of always coming back to life, not to mention how weak his immune system must be.

"All healed!" Jack replied and grinned as he pushed the warehouse door open. If Ianto hadn't looked away from Jack to make sure they weren't leaving anything valuable in their little set-up, he would have caught the momentary flicker of worry in Jack's eyes.

 **TWMD**

After getting to the hub at eight am sharp, Owen and Tosh had spent the entire morning scouring the internet for as much information about the miracle as they could. It became very apparent early on that no one had any idea as to what had caused the phenomenon but Tosh had insisted they persevered. Tosh had spent the next three hours reading through every page which came up on the google search whilst Owen had spent very little of those three hours actually paying attention to his computer screen.

At one in the afternoon, Owen was convinced that he was going to go crazy if he remained stuck in the hub for any longer. The hub was a big place when inhabited by just him and Tosh, and Owen couldn't concentrate in the eerie silence. Owen had practically resorted to dragging Tosh away from her computer screen, insisting that they needed some fresh air and a new coffee machine before Ianto returned to see the old one had been blown to smithereens. Owen already knew that he would be the one to get the blame for it.

And that was how, on a day where no one was dying and they really should be investigating that, Tosh found herself in a warehouse staring at a massive shelving unit filled with all sorts of coffee machines.

"This is the one," Owen decided almost instantly, standing in front of one of the coffee machines and looking very proud of himself.

Tosh walked over to him and looked at the coffee machine in question, "It's the same one he had before."

"Exactly," Owen grinned as he lifted the box off the shelf and onto the trolley they had collected at the front entrance. "He'll never notice."

"Like you haven't noticed how much that one costs?" Tosh asked, pointing out the price tag attached to the box.

Owen's eyes widened when he read the price tag. "Who spends 3 grand on a coffee machine?" Owen exclaimed.

"Technically it's £2,999.99," Tosh pointed out unhelpfully.

Owen was fully aware of how well Torchwood paid, he got quite healthy wages himself, but he didn't have the spare money to throw away on a coffee machine.

After begrudgingly handing his credit card over to the cashier, it turned out he did have the money to waste on a coffee machine. Tosh definitely owed him one now.

 **TWMD**

Jack and Ianto's plan to infiltrate the medical inquiry regarding what had occurred in the CIA archives during the early hours of the morning was hindered by the fact that they arrived far too long in advance. Which meant they had nothing better to do than wait around by the desk. On more than one occasion, Ianto's legs had felt like they were about so fail him so he had resorted to leaning against the desk they were waiting at.

Eventually, a woman in a white lab coat rounded the corner, followed by three men who looked to hold very high ranks if their uniform was anything to go by. Jack and Ianto's eyes met, both men mutually agreeing that these must be the people they were waiting on. The pair approached the oncoming group of four side by side. "FBI," they said at the same time, simultaneously flashing their fake badges before pocketing them again. No one challenged them as Jack and Ianto joined the group, following the woman who appeared to be a doctor straight into the room in which the enquiry was being held.

The room, as would be expected from a hospital, looked well and truly sterile. The shiny cooler drawers stationed at the back of the room contrasted greatly to the cooler drawers Ianto was used to seeing in Owen's autopsy room within the hub. Three other surgeons were already in the room, their clothing and skin fully protected by a gown, gloves and face mask. As they entered, one was making final checks to ensure the camera was ready to record the autopsy about to take place. Taking centre stage in the room was a large table. Ianto was aware that the body of the man responsible for shooting him lay on the table but a white sheet, covered in specks of red blood, prevented him from seeing the body.

"Session begins supervised by attending surgeon Professor Victor Louis Santini and witnesses to be listed in the hospital register. The purpose of this enquiry is to determine… well, as you'll see," One surgeon, presumably Santini, had begun talking as soon as the group had stepped into the room. By this point, Jack, Ianto, the doctor and the three accompanying high ranking personnel had reached the table in the centre of the room. The first thing Ianto noticed was the unmistakable stench of burned flesh. That was enough to make him feel sick. Or maybe it was the painkillers wearing off?

"Following the explosion at the CIA archives, one of the… victims has been…" Santini had attempted to continue but was cut off by the sudden signs of movement under the white sheet. A low groan could be heard from the body under the sheet. Ianto glanced briefly at Jack who seemed unaffected by what was happening in front of them. "Yes, I think we can…" Santini gave one last attempt to maintain professionalism before sighing and speaking honestly. "I'm sorry. They brought me in as an expert, but I don't know what the hell this is."

As if on cue, the two other surgeons in the room removed the sheet from the table, revealing the body of the man from the archives underneath. Despite the horrifying sight in front of him, Ianto couldn't take his eyes off the body. It was sprayed out on the table, looking almost completely flattened as if it had been run over by a truck. In places the skin had been completely burnt away, leaving only bone and in other places the skin was severely burnt and charred. Its chest was the least affected part of the body, still recognisable and moving as the man breathed. The worst part was the eyes: wide open and moving. The man was still conscious.

"We think this man was right at the centre of the blast, and yet he's still alive," Santini reported to them though it was nothing Jack and Ianto didn't already know. "Clearly, the skin is burnt. He's not indestructible, just undying. Ever living. We're going to need a new vocabulary. But we're getting the same results from all over the world."

Ianto was struggling to believe what he was seeing. Sure, he'd read the news reports and he should have died himself. The difference was, he was still walking around and functioning in the same way he did before getting shot. This man was just lying there, physical appearance changed forever. Miracle Day wasn't the right name for what was happening. With the word miracle came connotations of happiness and glee. What he was looking at was worse than death.

"Is that actual consciousness?" The doctor spoke up as she also looked like she was struggling to take her eyes away from the gory sight. "It seems like he's still aware." She was right. It certainly looked that way. Ianto was convinced that the man was looking straight at them.

"Excuse me," Jack spoke up before anyone could provide the doctor with an answer. Ianto glanced at Jack to see him digging around in his pocket, presumably looking for his fake ID again. "John Hart, FBI," he introduced himself once he'd found his ID, holding it up for the room to see. Ianto couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the name Jack used. Of course Jack would use an ex-lover's name as an alias. Did that mean the alias 'John Smith' which Ianto had heard him use before was another ex-lover of Jack's? If so Ianto was beginning to sense a pattern between Jack and the names of his sexual partners. "But what if you detach his head? I mean, would he stay alive without his head?" Ianto stared at Jack. Did he really just ask that? Ianto had seen a lot of gross and ugly things during his time at Torchwood but this whole situation was quickly heading towards the top of the list.

"I suggest we find out," Ianto was equally surprised to hear Santini agree to go along with that plan. Ianto instantly went cold and felt about ready to throw up. He clenched his fist, frustrated. Why was this affecting him so much? The guy had shot him, after all. If it wasn't for the Miracle, Ianto would be in a similar state to the conscious man on the table. Just not conscious.

"Excuse me. You can't do that," the doctor protested as she stepped closer to the table. Ianto instantly found himself hoping that they'd all listen to her. She looked from Santini to Jack then to Ianto, making him feel uncomfortable. What was she looking at him for? He'd played no part in the suggestion Jack had made. Luckily, the doctor's focus didn't stay on him for long as she turned back to Santini. "I mean you literally can't. This man is not dead. He's out patient." Ianto fully supported the argument she was putting forward.

"Your comments have been noted Doctor Juarez," Santini informed her but nevertheless picked up a surgical instrument from the table. "Now, shall we begin?"

Ianto looked at Jack as Santini moved closer to the man's helpless body, his intentions completely clear to all the people within the room. Jack glanced his way, their eyes meeting momentarily before Jack returned his attention back to what was happening in front of them. Jack's eyes had been hard, unreadable and Ianto had been unable to work out what he was thinking. Ianto grimaced when he heard the first cut, quickly followed by a second.

At the sound of Santini placing his surgical instruments down, Ianto forced himself to look back at the body. Head detached, the man's eyes had closed. Though it wasn't long before they snapped back open. Ianto couldn't help but feel like he was in the middle of a horror movie. "Oh my god," the doctor breathed out and, out of the corner of his eye, Ianto saw Jack take in a sudden breath. Apparently he wasn't as disconnected about what he'd suggested as he'd tried to act. The revelation that someone could live without a head thanks to this 'miracle' appeared to have affected him.

"Don't tell me this is a virus or evolution or whatever," Santini had approached the doctor now and was talking directly to her. Ianto was interested in where the conversation was headed, however, since it sounded like Santini was about to reveal his theory on what had happened. "This is deliberate intervention. "I mean all of us have been changed by design."

"But how?" The doctor asked the question on everybody's mind. "Who could do this?"

"Well, who's got the technology?" Santini answered with a question before proceeding to answer his own question, "No one on this Earth." Without even uttering a word to Ianto, Jack walked off, apparently bored by the interaction. Ianto had to do a double take before realising that Jack had reached the door and quickly set off after him.

Ianto caught up with Jack as he stalked down the corridor. "What if you detach the head?" Ianto echoed Jack's earlier question. "That man is alive and conscious. And you put him through that?"

Jack stopped suddenly, rounding on Ianto and the younger man came very close to crashing into Jack, stopping himself just in time. "That man is the same person who shot at us this morning. That man willingly put himself in that condition when he tried to blow us all up," Jack hissed, keeping his voice low so that the nurses, doctors and patients passing them couldn't make out what he was saying. "Don't forget he tried to kill us," Jack reminded him before setting off again with no warning, leaving Ianto to chase after him.

"Except it's not possible to kill anymore," Ianto pointed out to Jack as he hurried down the hospital corridor after the man.

Jack stopped suddenly once more and this time Ianto wasn't quick enough to stop too. Jack's reactions were quick, catching and steadying Ianto before he could fall too far into him. Jack looked Ianto straight in the eyes, his hands remaining just above Ianto's hips. "You nearly didn't make it out of that window in time. That could have been you. Back there. On that table."

"But it wasn't. Look at me: breathing, walking, talking. I'm fine," Ianto insisted.

Jack stepped back from Ianto and folded his arms. "Then how come you're so pale?" He challenged.

"Lack of sleep," Ianto replied instantly. He wasn't going to let Jack catch him out that easily. The way he was acting just at the thought of him getting injured made Ianto even more sure that he was doing the right thing by not telling Jack about his injury.

"You slept earlier," Jack responded, pushing the conversation further. Ianto just wanted to move on. In fact, he really just wanted to go back to Wales. He never thought he'd think it, but he really needed to see Owen.

"I don't think three hours of sleep is regarded as being enough," Ianto replied before he sighed. "Can we just head back to Cardiff? The rest of the team will be able to help us figure out this Miracle thing."

Jack finally seemed to relent, "Alright. Let's get back to the warehouse and book the flight back."

"And hope Owen hasn't blown the hub up in our absence."


	5. The New World Part 5

**Chapter 5**

When Gwen and Rhys pulled up outside the hospital, it looked as if a big tragedy had occurred. A shrine, complete with people's pictures, had been erected outside the hospital and people in the gathering crowd were handing out candles, as if preparing to hold a vigil for the people who had lost their lives. Only one thing suggested otherwise: the smiles on the faces of the people in the crowd.

"What the hell?" Gwen commented, fully focused on the crowd as she got out of the car and pushed the door shut. Gwen's focused maintained on the crowd and trying to work out what was going on as she pulled the backdoor open for Rhys to get Anwen.

"Long time, no see," the familiar voice of Andy Davidson returned her attention to the things going on directly around her. Gwen stepped back in surprise when she took in her surroundings. She was expecting to see Andy approaching her. She wasn't expecting to see Owen and Tosh following behind him. Rhys sighed when he spotted the pair. They'd only been back for a few minutes and already Torchwood had returned into their lives.

Gwen quickly greeted Andy with a hug before moving on to Owen and Tosh. "What are you two doing here?"

"Andy called us about your father-" Tosh began but could hardly get any of her words out before Gwen interrupted her.

"Did aliens do this to my dad?" Gwen demanded. Why else would Torchwood be interested in her dad's condition.

"Aliens didn't cause your dad to get sick, Gwen," Owen told her, his tone suggesting it was a stupid thing for Gwen to have thought.

"Your father had a mild heart attack on Saturday night and then a second on the Sunday, and that was quite bad, to be honest. But he's stable now. He's out of ICU," Andy filled Gwen in on her dad's condition.

"So why call Torchwood to investigate?" Gwen challenged, arms folded as she looked between Andy, Tosh and Owen.

"We're not working," Tosh answered almost immediately. "We're your friends. We came to support you."

"Yeah… and to investigate the Miracle," Owen added, earning himself a glare from Tosh who had, on countless times during their car journey to the hospital, told him that telling Gwen they were investigating the miracle would be inconsiderate to her father's condition.

"What Miracle?" Gwen asked, only to receive three people gaping at her in response.

"Miracle Day?" Owen tried, convinced that those words would jog her memory. Gwen just shook her head in response. A glance at Rhys showed Owen that he had no idea what they were on about either. "This is exactly why I'd never live in the countryside! It could be the end of the world and you wouldn't even know about it!"

"What's Miracle Day?" Gwen asked again when Owen failed to give her any sort of informative response the first time she asked.

"Two days ago, people stopped dying. We can still get hurt or sick or injured but not a single person has died in the last two days," Tosh explained. Now it was Gwen and Rhys' turn to gape.

TWMD

"I asked you not to do one thing. One simple thing: don't mention investigating the miracle to Gwen. It wasn't difficult," Tosh exclaimed as she paced the hospital corridor. They had both decided it would be best to let Gwen and Rhys see Gwen's parents alone. Tosh already knew Gwen's mother hadn't been over the moon about them moving away immediately after Anwen's birth.

"I don't see the problem with it," Owen shrugged in response from where he was sat in one of the chairs, arms folded.

"It's not considerate, is it?" Tosh sighed as she realised she was attempting to get Owen to see a situation from someone else's point of view. "Telling her we're investigating the circumstance which kept her father from dying." Tosh sat down in the seat next to Owen and leaned back against the wall behind them.

"Without me, she still wouldn't know about those circumstances," Owen responded with another shrug.

Suddenly, the door of Gwen's father's hospital room swung open and Gwen came out, pulling the door shut behind her and collapsing in the nearest seat next to Owen. "How is he?" Tosh asked, leaning forwards so that she could see Gwen past Owen.

"Not great… he is recovering though," Gwen responded as she also leaned forwards so that she could see Tosh as well as Owen. "So where are Jack and Ianto?" Gwen asked.

It wasn't hard for Owen to notice that she was quickly moving the conversation topic along but he didn't pick up on it. Instead, he answered her question, "America."

"America?" Gwen questioned.

"Couple's getaway," Owen answered her with a smirk.

"Work." Tosh corrected immediately.

"Probably both," Owen shrugged.

"The CIA received an email containing only the name Torchwood. Jack and Ianto went to destroy all written record of us in their archives," Tosh explained in more detail so that Gwen couldn't get the wrong idea from Owen's comments.

"Do they know about this miracle thing going on here?" Gwen asked, much to Owen's amusement. She really was clueless about the entire situation the world had found itself in.

"It's worldwide," Tosh informed her.

"The whole world?" Gwen questioned, eyes wide as she processed the information Tosh had given her.

Owen scoffed. "Nope. Just Wales," He responded sarcastically. "What else do you think worldwide means?"

Gwen ignored him as she stood up and moved to stand in front of Owen and Tosh. "Alright. Fill me in," she demanded, folding her arms and looking at her colleagues expectantly.

"Thought you weren't investigating anymore," Owen responded, sounding bored to death and as if he had somewhere better to be.

"Piss off and get us a coffee, Owen," Gwen shot at him.

"I think you're confusing me with Ianto." Owen didn't move. "Go get your own."

"I don't want coffee," Gwen told him and Owen was immediately confused. Why ask him to get one if she didn't actually want one? He was glad he hadn't put the effort into moving and searching for a coffee machine. Especially when hospital coffee was always crap. "I don't want to put up with your shitty comments."

"Well," Tosh spoke up quickly. The last thing she needed was for Owen and Gwen to get into an argument. Especially in the middle of a busy hospital. "Nobody is dying, as you already know. Countries are ending wars – what's the point if no one can die? Somalia announced that they were no longer fighting when we were on our way over here. And people are recovering from fatal injuries. Miracle does sum it up quite well."

Owen scoffed. "Yeah. When you only focus on the positives. North Korea are convinced their entire army is immortal. They're ready to pick wars with anyone. You have people in comas from fatal injuries and illnesses filling up the hospitals. The increasing demand on hospitals is only going to make the entire health system collapse. Not to mention the population problem. With the average number of deaths and births, you're looking at an increase of eight-hundred-thousand people each day. Health care, let alone society, is not prepared for that," Owen listed off with ease.

"Thank you, Mr Pessimistic," Gwen spoke sarcastically in response to Owen's negative attitude towards the miracle. Despite what she said, Gwen knew he was right. On their way into the hospital, they had passed intensive care. The beds were already overflowing the ward and it had only been three days since the miracle had begun.

"Just speaking the truth," Owen shrugged in response, continuing to remain slouched in his chair. "We need to figure out what caused this and put an end to it. Otherwise, this could quite well be the beginning of the end."

"Still, a little bit of optimism wouldn't go amiss," Gwen commented in response.

"I'm a realist," Owen responded as Rhys appeared in the hallway, stepping out of Gwen's dad's hospital room. "Mark my words, this whole miracle thing. It won't end well."

"Which is exactly why you're not getting involved. Right Gwen?" Rhys spoke up, announcing his presence and surprising all three Torchwood team members who had been too caught up in their conversation to notice his arrival. Recognising the look on Gwen's face, Rhys spoke again before she could get a word out, "No more investigations! You promised. We're here to see your Dad. That's it, yeah?"

The presence of Owen and Tosh had only made Gwen realise even more how much she missed working for Torchwood. Sure, she had promised Jack (after at least five hours of his persistence) that she would take a break from it to spend time with Anwen and protect her from the dangers of Torchwood but Suzie had been right when she said no other job could compare to it. If this Miracle was affecting the whole world, Torchwood would need all the help they could get. She just had to convince Rhys. "Come and take a look," she told him. Without giving him a chance to respond, Gwen turned and set off down the corridor from Rhys, Owen and Tosh.

TWMD

Rhys followed Gwen through the hospital. He knew it. He bloody knew it. Return to Cardiff and Gwen would be tempted back to Torchwood. He hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, however. Tosh and Owen being at the hospital when they had arrived had sped the entire process up.

"Look!" She said, pointing down the corridor as they rounded a corner. In front of them, Rhys saw at least four beds containing patients, left out in the hospital corridor. "They've got twelve beds with seventeen patients already," she reeled off as she stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned to talk to him. Rhys could only wonder when she'd taken the time to find out that piece of information. "What's going to happen tomorrow? And the day after that? And the day after that?"

Rhys sighed. Why did Gwen always feel like it was up to her to investigate? "Listen now," he interrupted her as it sounded like she had quite a spiel lined up. "Every time you investigate something, you end up in danger Gwen." How many times did they have to have the same conversation?

"I can help," was all Gwen said in response.

"Don't you dare," Rhys said instantly.

"So you just-" Gwen started to speak but whatever it was she had planned to say, Rhys wasn't interested. Torchwood had screwed up both their lives enough. He didn't need it screwing up Anwen's as well.

"I said don't you dare! Have you got that? Don't you bloody dare, Gwen!" Rhys snapped, his voice rising in an attempt to try to get through to her. Realising it probably wasn't the best approach, he sighed and returned to his original approach of trying to explain the way he saw things. "See, the thing is, right, if Miracle Day is a Torchwood case, others will make the same connection, aren't they? You get involved, they'll come looking for you with guns, just like they did last time."

"I suppose so," Gwen nodded, showing Rhys that he was starting to get through to her.

"You've got a daughter now. You can't go putting her in danger. That's the whole reason we moved away from Torchwood in the first place. To keep her safe. We've got to go back. Before you get caught up in that world again," Rhys continued, determined to persuade her against the temptation of Torchwood.

Rhys was talking sense, even if that was a rare thing. Gwen knew the safety of their daughter should be their main concern but she was also concerned about her dad. She couldn't just leave him and return to the middle of nowhere, could she? "My dad is sick," Gwen reminded Rhys.

"Oh think about it!" Rhys exclaimed, his frustration remaining fully evident in the tone of his voice. "People aren't dying. He's going to survive." Anwen had gotten through to her well enough the last time. He'd have to mention her again. "Think about Anwen. Maybe our daughter is going to live forever," he suggested, exasperated. It sounded stupid when he said it out loud. But anything seemed possible within the new rules for the new world.

"Don't, okay? Don't make her a part of this thing, okay? Don't." Gwen's voice was deadly serious in stark contrast to Rhys' tone. There was a moment of silence which filled the corridor, neither person sure of what to say next. "Do you think she could?" Gwen breathed out, barely letting herself believe it.

"Possible, yeah," Rhys responded with a shrug, despite having no idea. "See. Maybe you should let this happen for once?" He suggested. Had he done it? Had he managed to convince her?

There was a moment of silence as Gwen looked around her, glancing guiltily at the overflowing beds before speaking, "Let's go home."

"Yes," Rhys nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go home."

He'd been wrong. They'd gone to Cardiff and returned without Gwen putting a single foot in that Torchwood hub.

TWMD

When Esther got to work late, she still wasn't sure what had happened the previous night. She could remember leaving work in the evening but, the next thing she knew, she was waking up on a random bench with a huge bruise on her side. How had she forgotten what she had done to cause that? The TV was on, playing a news report about the CIA archive burning down. But Esther already knew about that. She'd woken up not far from the wrecked building. Had she been caught up in it? Had she hit her head in the process? Maybe that was the cause for her lack of memory. But why would she be at the archives to begin with?

"Nice for some, having the morning off?" Charlotte's observation as Esther passed by her workstation cut off Esther's thought process.

"Yeah, I had… things to do. Missed all this," Esther explained hesitantly as she continued towards her own computer. She wasn't going to linger by Charlotte for long. She didn't need all the questions she couldn't answer from her colleague.

Esther sat down at her computer, just as Noah reached her working area, file in hand. Said file got plonked down onto her desk. Esther glanced down at the thick file as it hit her desk with a thud. "You owe me," Noah told her. "Yasmin works in Friedkin's office. She got me the last remaining Torchwood file." The memories of researching the secret organisation the previous evening returned to Esther. That's what she had been doing before leaving work. Was her lack of memory Torchwood related? Or was she just being paranoid? "Now you can take me to dinner," Noah stated matter-of-factly before walking away. Esther frowned as she looked back down at the file and flicked through the first few pages. The amount of writing on those pages showed her the amount of detail that had gone into the file. Reading it would have to wait until later. She shoved the file into the drawer of her desk. She had intended to actually put her focus on work until the phone on her desk started ringing.

Esther picked the phone up, pressing it against her ear, "Esther Drummond. Hello."

"Is there a database correlating mortality rates from every single hospital in the world?" The voice down the phone asked without bothering to attempt a greeting. Rex: her friend. The one who'd been speared through the heart during their phone call about Torchwood. Without Miracle Day, he would be dead. Instead, he was lying in a hospital bed recovering.

"Are you on your cellphone?" Esther asked, wondering how she was calling her from the hospital. "Because you're not allowed to be using it."

"And is anyone talking to the morticians?" Rex continued as if she hadn't said anything, completely avoiding her question. "Because, I mean, they got to be the first to notice, right?"

"There's nothing. There's no news," Esther informed him down the phone. "The whole thing, it's kind of intangible. How do you investigate something that's not happening? And all that Torchwood stuff, that's gone up to Friedkin," Esther decided to get him up-to-date with the Torchwood investigation, not that there was much information to tell him. But surely it had to be connected to what was going on in some way?

"Oh yeah?" Rex questioned, only appearing to remember Torchwood when Esther brought it up. "O what's Torchwood got to do with it?"

"I don't know," Esther answered truthfully, her free hand moving to pull the Torchwood file Noah had given her closer towards her. "It's sort of connected, isn't it?"

"No. No, it's not," Rex answered assuredly as Esther opened the Torchwood file to glance down the first page. The first page was a full document of written information which Esther intended to read through properly once her conversation with Rex was finished. "It's a completely different case."

"Sure," Esther agreed with him quickly. He had a lot more experience than her, after all. "Of course it is."

"Then why did you mention it?" Rex quizzed. Apparently, he wasn't going to drop the Torchwood conversation anytime soon.

"Don't know," Esther answered dismissively, kind of wishing she hadn't mentioned it in the first place considering how quickly he had shut her down. "I suppose it just happened at the same time?"

"So what is Torchwood anyway?" Rex continued to question, sounding frustrated at the lack of information he had about it.

"Err," Esther pulled the first page of the Torchwood file out further, attempting to scan through it quickly in order to provide him with some information. "Some kind of British intervention agency. Still active. Seems to specialise in cases like the 456," was the best summary she was able to give him with the little time she had to pick out the information.

"So the first email with Torchwood, you know, the security breach, when did that come through?" Rex's questions just kept on coming. Esther was just glad she knew the answer to this one without having to do any quick researching.

"Sunday night," She answered immediately. "Twenty-two, thirty-six."

The initial response Esther received down the phone from that information was a grunt. She could only presume that Rex had moved in an effort to pick something up, probably his own files that he had collected. "Twenty-two, thirty-six?" Rex repeated.

"Yep," Esther confirmed.

There was a moment of silence before Esther heard Rex's voice again, "Twenty-two thirty-six. Twenty-two, thirty-six was the last reported death. The last death on planet Earth."

"Well, that's disputable. They said that the last death was on Monday," Esther informed him.

"No, no, no," As Rex spoke, Esther could also hear the hospital machines beeping in the background. "Monday in Shanghai at eleven-thirty-six," Rex sounded alert, excited and Esther presumed he was getting up and raring to go… somewhere. She wasn't entirely sure where. "Washington DC is thirteen hours behind at twenty-two, thirty-six. Both those things happened at the same time. Don't you see? You were right. It's all connected. Torchwood's the key to this whole thing."

Esther knew it was too much of a coincidence but having her suspicions that Torchwood and Miracle Day were connected in some way was unnerving. They had very little information on both things. Where were they going to start? Down the phone, Esther could make out Rex having a bit of an argument with a nurse who was trying to get him to stay in bed. Esther could only wish her luck when it came to trying to persuade Rex to do so. Esther wasn't surprised when Rex won the argument and started talking to hr directly once more. "Alright, so give me those names again," Rex instructed, his breathing heavy as he presumably set off walking down the hospital corridor.

Once again, Esther found herself quickly searching through the Torchwood file on her desk for the requested information. "Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato and Ianto Jones. There's very limited information on all of them. There's the odd mention of each of them here and there, popping up in different areas of the UK, presumably seeing family, except for one. Gwen Cooper. There's been no sightings of her for the last twelve months. It looks like she's gone underground."

"Yeah, that's them," Rex confirmed what Esther already knew; if they weren't members of a secret British intelligence agency, they were super secretive and private people. Besides, how else would their names end up in a Torchwood file?

"The case details have been censored by UNIT Headquarters. This field got referrals going all the way to Geneva and above. It's way beyond top secret," Esther told him. Did Rex really know what he was getting into with Torchwood.

Over the phone, Esther heard Rex get into yet another confrontation and, once again, she zoned out a little, instead placing her focus onto the Torchwood file until she heard her name. "Esther, book me a flight to the United Kingdom," Esther raised an eyebrow as Rex continued to grunt and breathe heavily over the phone. And he was planning to travel to the United Kingdom in that state? "I'm taking a cab," he informed her before shouting at people to move out of his way. "Now, make sure you get a hold of supplies, because I'm gonna need a requisition fifteen."

At first, Esther wasn't sure if she misheard what Rex had just said. She paused momentarily before replying, "What do you need that for?"

"You do know what a requisition fifteen is, right?" Rex responded immediately, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Of course I do!" Esther defended herself. "It's clearance to take a handgun on a plane."

"Well then, I'm taking a handgun on a plane," Rex spoke those words as if it was the most natural sentence a person could say. "Now book that flight!"

TWMD

"Alright," Ianto spoke up, breaking the silence in the derelict warehouse as he pushed the laptop lid shut and turned to face Jack who was working to pack all their belongings up. "Our flight to London Heathrow is due to depart at two in the morning. I'm claiming the window seat."

"So I'm stuck sitting next to the stranger," Jack inferred.

"You are the more sociable one," Ianto confirmed with a nod and he began to pack the laptop away into the bag.

"I hope they're good-looking," Jack commented and, without even turning to look at him, Ianto knew the other man had an annoying smirk on his face.

"And I hope they punch you," Ianto spoke innocently, turning to face Jack with a smile on his face. "No, go ahead, charm away. At least it will give me a chance to get some sleep."

"You need it. You look terrible," Jack stated, pausing in the middle of rolling up one of the roll mats to stare at Ianto with concern.

Ianto rolled his eyes, "And I thought you knew how to charm a guy. Don't use that one on whoever you're sat with."

Jack dropped the roll mat, letting it lie flat again on the floor. He stood up and walked over towards Ianto. "I'm being serious. You're really pale. Like you're ill," having reached Ianto, Jack reached a hand out to touch Ianto's forehead planning to check his temperature, but the younger man jerked his head back before taking a step back from Jack.

"I'm fine," Ianto insisted, making himself look busy with the laptop bag to get Jack off his case. "Just a bit of a headache, that's all." Jack eyed him suspiciously and Ianto defiantly held his gaze until Jack gave up and turned to head back to putting the roll mats away.

Ianto let himself grimace once Jack's stare had left him. The pain in his chest had increased the entire time that Jack had been watching him. Hand shaking, Ianto reached into his pocket for the Phicorp painkillers, swallowing two in quick succession whilst Jack was preoccupied with the mats.

TWMD

It was a weird feeling: knowing something had changed the entire world, knowing no one was dying, knowing Torchwood was on the case, yet despite all that knowledge, there she was, Gwen Cooper, sitting at home with her feet up and drinking a cup of coffee. Isolated life was mundane, repetitive and a little dull, especially when compared to the life she had back in Cardiff, and knowing that something big was happening just made it even more dull. The television was on; Rhys was watching some dramatic soap show (and had been very insistent that they were not putting the news on), but Gwen paid no attention to it, her attention was fully on the fact that no-one was dying. What had caused it?

Suddenly, the ring of a phone filled the house and Gwen jumped into action. Perhaps Torchwood needed her. Owen and Tosh would still be alone in the hub, maybe they needed reinforcements. She was at the drawer in a flash and accepted the call without even checking the caller ID. "Hello?"

" _Gwen?"_ A Welsh voice came down the phone. _"It's Rhiannon Davies. We met when the government was trying to take the kids. You said you worked with Ianto?"_

It wasn't exactly the call she was expecting but at least it gave her something to do. "Yes, I do. Why? Is something wrong?"

" _I don't know for sure. I've just got this bad feeling that something bad has happened. I mean, I did phone him yesterday and Jack answered and said he was fine but he hasn't answered any of my calls since. I know that no-one can die but what if he badly hurt?"_

"I… don't know," Gwen responded, feeling unhelpful with that reply. "I haven't spoken to Jack or Ianto in a while."

" _Oh… okay. Sorry to bother you then."_

The voice on the other end sounded beaten and worn out to the point where Gwen felt she needed to do a lot more to help. "How about you meet me at mine? I'll try and get through to them whilst you're on your way, otherwise we'll try some other methods of contacting them once you get here?" Gwen suggested. Some different company would definitely be nice.

" _Are you sure? Johnny's out so I'd have to bring the kids."_

"The more the merrier! I'll text you our address." At that sentence, Gwen saw Rhys turn suddenly to face her, giving her a look which basically said: _what the hell are you getting yourself into know?_ "Great, I'll see you in a bit."

"So who's coming round then?" Rhys questioned as Gwen hung up and immediately set to work on sending the text to Rhiannon.

"Ianto's sister, and her kids," Gwen answered as she returned the phone to the drawer.

"Great," was all Rhys responded with. They'd managed to pretty much avoid Torchwood in Cardiff, now Torchwood – or a relation of Torchwood – was coming to their house.


	6. The New World Part 6

**Chapter 6**

" _Okay, your flight departs at oh-two-hundred hours, but your requisition has been refused_ ," Esther told Rex down the phone as his taxi pulled up outside the airport. _Typical._ He needed that gun. He would just have to make sure he got one once he landed.

Rex grunted as he opened the door and climbed out of the taxi, the sudden movement causing the pain from his wound to increase more. "If requisitions won't move," Rex replied to Esther as he steadied himself on the crutch he had taken from the hospital and set off towards the airport terminal, "then get me a handgun from UK security."

" _How am I supposed to do that?"_

The crutch was doing very little to ease the pain and, frustrated by its lack of assistance, Rex threw the crutch to one side, resulting in it falling at the feet of a younger, well-dressed man in a suit. "Sorry," he shot in the man's direction as he continued onwards. "Get me the gun," he hissed down the phone to Esther.

 **TWMD**

Ianto momentarily gazed after the man who had narrowly avoided knocking him out with a crutch as he continued on his way, not even stopping when he apologised.

"Someone's in a rush," Jack commented, a look of amusement on his face.

Ianto glanced at his watch, "So should we be. The flight leaves in a few hours and we still have to get through security."

"I want to check in with Owen and Tosh first. Have you got your phone?" Jack asked, holding out his hand expectantly.

"It's out of battery. Haven't had a chance to charge it," Ianto told him and Jack quickly dropped his hand back down. "Where's your phone?"

"You remember the rush we were in to leave the hub?"

 **TWMD**

 _Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring._

"Owen! For goodness sake, answer the phone," Tosh exclaimed from where she was stood carefully reading through the instruction booklet of the new coffee machine.

 _Ring, ring._

"It's not mine," Owen told her as he took a brief glance at the ringing phone on his workstation. "It must be Jack's."

 _Ring, ring. Ring, ring._

"Just answer it!" Tosh repeated, the ringing noise distracting her from being able to focus on the instruction booklet.

"Fine!" Owen agreed as he reached for the phone and accepted the call. "Good morning, Jack's phone, Owen speaking."

" _Owen?"_ A familiar Welsh voice came down the phone.

"Yes, Gwen. Owen. Two syllables, not that difficult," Owen reported, mockingly, in the same way she had done to him on her first day at Torchwood, shortly before she let a sex-craving alien free to roam the streets of Cardiff.

Gwen seemed to pick up on exactly what he was referring to, _"Not pain-in-the-arse, dickhead, prick?"_

"Oi! I didn't insult you like that," Owen complained.

" _Whatever, where's Jack?"_

"America."

" _Aren't they back yet?"_

"If they were, I wouldn't have answered the last question with 'America', would I?" Owen retorted sarcastically.

" _So why's his phone there?"_

"What is this? Twenty questions? How am I supposed to know? He must have forgotten it," Owen shrugged.

" _Have you heard from Ianto recently?"_

"Still going with the questions?"

" _Just answer the damn question, Owen."_

"Alright, keep your hair on! No. The last I heard from him, he was with a conscious guy who'd been shot in the chest."

" _When was that?"_

"This really is twenty questions, or some kind of interrogation."

" _Owen."_

"I don't know! A few days ago. Before we saw you at the hospital. It wasn't long after this Miracle, as they're calling it, happened," Owen answered.

" _If you do here anything, let me know."_

 **TWMD**

"Hello!" Gwen greeted enthusiastically as she pulled the front door open for Rhiannon and her two kids. "Come on in," she instructed, moving back from the door to let them through. "Just head through that door on the right. You'll see my husband, Rhys, and my daughter, Anwen." Gwen followed them through whilst making introductions before taking a seat next to Rhiannon on the couch.

"Have you heard anything from Ianto?" Rhiannon asked after instructing David and Mica to entertain themselves with computer games.

Gwen shook her head, "Keeps going straight to voicemail and Jack left his phone at work so I can't contact him either. Do you know where in America they are?"

"Washington DC," Rhiannon answered.

"Good. Then we can try all the hospitals. If no one's seen him, it will be safe to say that he's just lost his phone or forgotten to charge it," Gwen suggested, sending Rhiannon an encouraging smile which sparked a small hopeful smile to spread on her face. "Rhys! Grab a phone!"

 **TWMD**

Making it through airport security the second time around had been a lot calmer than the first time. They hadn't cut it quite as close and even had the spare time to get a coffee from the airport café. It wasn't the best coffee, but Ianto had drank it. As he settled down into the window seat he had previously claimed, Ianto hoped he would get more sleep than he managed to get on the way. Jack was making himself busy charming the flight attendant in a hope that, come the drink and snacks cart, he'd be able to get some things for free. Jack's charming act, however, was cut short by the arrival of the aisle seat passenger who collapsed into the set with a grunt. It took a few seconds, but Ianto recognised him as the guy who had thrown a crutch at him outside the airport. What a coincidence.

" _Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to your flight to London Heathrow."_ The voice sounded through the plane over the tannoy not long after the crutch-man had sat down.

Rex, however, wasn't paying much notice to the announcement as he put his phone to his ear. "All right, now concentrate. What do we know about these people? Go with the newest one to join. Should be easiest to track."

" _That would be Gwen Cooper. There's been no public fighting of her in the last twelve months,"_ Esther informed him down the phone.

"Gwen Cooper," Rex repeated, causing Ianto and Jack to immediately look at each other. "Go with her. The life of Gwen Cooper. What do we know?"

" _Ex-police. It says that she joined the Torchwood Institute in October 2006,"_ Esther told Rex down the phone, during which time both Jack and Ianto were wishing they could hear the person on the other end of the phone. Was the man talking about the same Gwen Cooper that they knew?

"Alright, now hold on, hold on," Rex instructed Esther. "Go through her police records. Find out everyone she worked with, everyone she trained with."

Ianto shook his head slightly at Jack. This didn't sound good.

"I'm so sorry, sir," the flight attendant Jack had been charming earlier stepped in. "I'm going to have to ask you to turn your phone off now."

Ianto breathed out slightly. At least that would stop the man from gaining any new information for the next nine hours. The problem was, they had no working phone to be able to warn Gwen once they landed.

Rex reached into his pocket, pulling out his badge. "CIA," he informed the flight attendant, causing Jack and Ianto to share another concerned look. "And I'm sick," he added to the flight attendant before returning to talking to Esther. "Gwen Cooper. Find out everything."

" _I can't get into the database. I'll need your password,"_ Esther told Rex whilst Ianto was busy subtly trying to tell Jack to take the phone by nodding his head in Rex's direction.

Eventually, Jack seemed to get what Ianto was telling him for, in a soft movement, he grabbed the phone out of Rex's hand and powered it off. "She said to turn off the phone," Jack told Rex when he received a glare in response to taking the phone. Rex snatched it back but made no attempt to redial.

"CIA, huh? That's cool," Ianto commented, casually prying for some more information. They had a nine-hour flight next to the CIA agent with an interest in Gwen Cooper. Might as well make use of the time. Rex, however, didn't seem too interested in making conversation, replying with a short nod as he picked up and flicked through one of the in-flight magazines.

"Are you working on identifying what caused the Miracle?" Jack spoke up, joining Ianto in an attempt to gain some information from Rex. Jack's attempt was even more unsuccessful than Ianto's as Rex acted as if he didn't hear Jack's question, continuing to flick through the magazine.

"We're heading back to Wales when we land," Ianto attempted once more from another angle, leaning over Jack so that Rex couldn't act like he didn't know that he was trying to make conversation with him. "Where are you heading? Have you been to London before?"

Rex simply grunted in response – whatever that meant – before putting headphones on to get the message across to Jack and Ianto that he wasn't interested in making conversation. Ianto slumped back into his own seat. That hadn't worked at all.

"I've got this," Jack muttered to Ianto as he waved a hand in the air in an attempt to gain the attention of the flight attendant he had been attempting to charm prior to take off. The flight attendant smiled when she spotted him and walked over.

"What can I do for you, sir?" She asked politely.

"Is there any chance I can have a glass of water?" Jack asked in return.

The flight attendant smiled, "Certainly."

As the flight attendant walked off to fetch Jack some water, Ianto just looked at him questionably only to receive a wink in return.

It didn't take long for the flight attendant to return with the water and Jack took it from her with a smile and a thanks. "Now then, where did I put my," Jack mumbled as he leaned forwards in his chair, seemingly searching for something. The next thing Ianto knew, Jack had 'accidently' tipped his water all over Rex who jumped up immediately and pulled his jacket off. Jack was on his feet just as quickly. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Here, let me," Jack grabbed some tissues and went to press them against Rex's shirt but the other man moved into the aisle before Jack reached him and set off for the bathroom.

Wasting no time at all, Jack grabbed Rex's jacket and chucked it at Ianto before grabbing Rex's phone to search through that. Ianto found nothing of any use in Rex's jacket and returned it to his seat before taking up position as look-out whilst Jack continued on Rex's phone. "Anything?" He asked Jack as he kept an eye out for Jack.

"Not really," Jack responded, sounding a little bit frustrated. "That woman from the archives, what was her name?"

Ianto had to pause for a moment before responding, "Drummond. Esther Drummond."

"She's the last person he called. They must be working on the Torchwood email case together," Jack inferred, turning his attention away from the phone to look at Ianto.

"Surely there's more pressing things they should be concerned about. Like the Miracle," Ianto responded. Why would they be wasting their time figuring out what Torchwood is and tracking down Torchwood team members when the whole world had changed?

"I don't know but you've got to admit that it's hilarious he's sat next to almost half of Torchwood without even realising it," Jack pointed out with a laugh and Ianto couldn't stop himself from laughing too.

"What are you doing with my phone?" Rex's sudden voice immediately put an end to Jack and Ianto's laughing. Jack sent Ianto a small glare – after all he was _supposed_ to be keeping a lookout for Rex's return – before slowly turning around to meet Rex's stare.

"Just checking the water didn't damage it," Jack replied, thinking fast. He held the phone out for Rex to take back. "As good as new. No problems. Sorry about that."

Rex snatched the phone back from Jack and returned to sitting with his headphones over his ears. Something told Ianto they shouldn't do anything else to irritate the CIA agent for the rest of the flight.

 **TWMD**

After a rocky start to the flight, with the two men he was sat next to refusing to leave him alone, Rex finally managed to relax and get some peace for the majority of the flight. Once the plane landed at nine am local time, Rex was met at the airport by the UK police who led him towards a back entrance of the airport. As they reached the door, Rex pulled his phone out of his pocket, pressing the redial button to pick up his conversation with Esther where they left off, wherever that was. "Hi," He greeted quickly when she picked up, stepping out of the airport and being met by fresh air as he did so. "Right. The password's Madrid 66211," Rex told Esther as he walked, sporting another policeman with the gun he had requested further down the runway. "That's Madrid with a capital M. Now, you should be able to gain access to the texts and calls of all the known Torchwood team members. I don't care if they're texting each other, family, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends or their internet service suppliers. Somewhere, there will be a hint to Gwen Cooper's location." Rex collected the handgun from the police officer and checked the loaded ammunition before holstering the gun.

" _This could take a while,"_ Esther warned him over the phone.

"I'll call you back," Rex replied shortly before hanging up the call and pocketing the phone. He needed a car.

 **TWMD**

Once again, Ianto found himself running through an airport. They needed to get to Gwen as soon as possible. Who knew what the CIA agent was planning when he tacked her down? "There!" Jack yelled, hitting Ianto on the arm to gain his attention as he indicated towards a series of payphones further down the airport terminal. "Call Owen and Tosh. Make sur they get to Gwen as soon as possible," Jack instructed before veering off to his left.

"Where are you going?" Ianto called after him.

"To hire us a car!" Jack shouted back as the distance between them grew even further. Ianto turned his attention away from Jack and onto the payphones he had pointed out. A long queue had formed for the use of them – didn't everyone carry mobile phones nowadays? – and Ianto knew he didn't have time to wait in the queue. Spotting someone finishing with their payphone, Ianto ran past the queue and grabbed hold of the phone.

"Hey!" A woman at the front of the queue yelled at him.

Ianto was already pushing money into the machine as he turned to apologise. "I'm sorry but… my eight year old son is home alone," he tried and was pleasantly surprised when that actually worked. The hub didn't have its own phone, and Ianto didn't know Owen or Tosh's mobile numbers – they were both conveniently saved in his phone so he never saw the point of learning them, just as he hadn't learned Gwen's which would have been really useful. Luckily, he had learned Jack's number and, luckily as it turned out, Jack had left his phone at the hub.

" _Jack's phone. Owen speaking. How can I help?"_

Ianto wasn't sure he'd ever been so glad to hear Owen's voice. "Owen. You and Tosh need to get to Gwen's as soon as possible. The CIA is on their way there. Jack and I will meet you there."

" _What?"_

If only Tosh had answered the phone. "Just go!" Ianto snapped down the phone before hanging up. As he placed the phone back on the hook, a sudden pain shot through his body. He fell against the payphone as his hand shot to his chest. Running had not been a good idea. Using the wall of the airport building to steady himself, Ianto moved himself away from the payphones. His legs felt weak and jelly-like and, as he moved further from the payphones, his head began pounding and his vision blurred. Ianto grunted as he slid down the wall until he was sat on the floor, back leaning against the wall. His movements shaking, it took longer than usual to open the Phicorp packet and get two painkillers into his system. Dropping the packet beside him, Ianto pushed his head against the wall and stared up at the tall grey ceiling. Death would have caused him a hell of a lot less pain. The painkillers helped to numb the pain but it was constantly there, reminding him that he should be dead.

"There you are!" The sudden voice jerked Ianto back to being alert of his surroundings. Jack. _Shit._ Ianto scrambled to grab the painkillers and push them into his back pocket before Jack saw them. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Nothing," Ianto answered badly as he pushed himself to his feet, using everything in his being not to show any signs of discomfort as the sudden movement caused yet another jolt of pain. Jack was watching him suspiciously. "I tripped. That's all. We've got to got moving."

 **TWMD**

Rex didn't know Gwen Cooper's exact location but he was fairly sure Wales would be a safe bet. After all, Cardiff appeared to house the Torchwood headquarters. So, after finding a car, he head off towards South Wales, picking his phone up as he approached a bridge. Hopefully, Esther had found a more specific location. "How's it going?" He asked as soon as he heard Esther pick up.

" _I've found a text from Gwen Cooper's phone to a phone registered to a Rhiannon Davies. A social media search appears to suggest that she is the sister of Ianto Jones. The texts contains an address. I suspect that's where you'll find Gwen Cooper."_

"Good." Rex grabbed the bottle of painkillers off the passenger's seat and efficiently finished off the bottle. "Send me the address," Rex instructed, frowning as he saw a queue of traffic ahead, forcing him to slow down. "What the hell is this bridge?" He glanced across to read the road sign. "The Severn Bridge?"

" _It connects England to Wales."_ Esther informed him.

"What, you mean Wales is separate?" Rex questioned. "It's like the British equivalent of New Jersey," Rex commented but frowned once again as the traffic ahead of him cleared and toll booths came into view. "Now what is this?" A glance at nearby signs listed a number of different tariffs. "Wait a minute, I've got to pay for this bridge? Goddamn Wales."

" _I'm sending you the address now."_

 **TWMD**

Ianto stared at a steaming engine, frustrated, "When you said 'I'm going to hire us a car', I thought you meant some fast James Bond car, not an old banger that' minutes away from breaking down."

"How was I supposed to know it was going to break down?" Jack defended himself as he worked away on the engine.

Ianto stared at Jack in disbelief – not that Jack could see him. "Look at it," Ianto sighed, exasperated. The car had to be at least fifteen years old and was covered in rust. If that hadn't been a clear enough sign to Jack, the fact that the doors required a game of tug of war to open should have triggered alarm bells. "And when you said 'I'll drive', I thought you knew where you were going!" Ianto exclaimed. As far he could tell, they were in the middle of nowhere. The road looked like something out of a horror movie – a narrow dirty path surrounded by old, creaking trees. "How hard can it be to find the M4 and follow it to Cardiff?"

Jack slammed the bonnet of the car down. "As hard as it is to fix this engine," he growled, entirely pissed off. "We're going to need a different car."

"Great! I'll just magic one up!" Ianto muttered sarcastically. Where were they supposed to find a car in the middle of nowhere?

 **TWMD**

Calling all the hospitals in Washington DC had taken a lot longer than expected and, by the time they'd finished, Mica was asleep and Gwen had offered Rhiannon a place to stay for the night, which she gladly and appreciatively accepted.

"It's still going straight to voicemail," Rhiannon sighed as she tried ringing Ianto for the third time that morning.

"Just focus on the positive. Last night confirmed he's not in a hospital," Gwen reminded her, trying to calm the other woman's concerns.

David looked up from his computer game, "He could be lying in a ditch somewhere." Gwen sighed; how helpful.

Rhiannon's eyes widened before she looked back down at the phone and redialled the number.

A sudden knocking at the door prevented Gwen from saying anything to calm Rhiannon down. Instead, she and Rhys shared an alarmed look. Living in an isolated house, they didn't tend to have many visitors so who was at their house? The knocking sounded again; fast and urgent. "Gwen? Are you there? Open up, it's bloody freezing out here," a male voice sounded from the other side of the door. Gwen frowned. She recognised that voice. But why would Owen travel out to her house?

Gwen hurried to the door pulling it open with a jerk to be met, not only by the sight of Owen but Tosh too. "Owen, Tosh! What are you two doing here?" Gwen exclaimed as Rhys joined her by the door, a complete look of disbelief on his face. They'd left Cardiff to leave Torchwood, and Torchwood had turned up at their door.

Owen opened his mouth to explain, but someone got in before him. "CIA!" An American voice called from behind Owen and Tosh who both spun around to see a gun being pointed in their general direction.

" _That_ would be why," Owen informed Gwen, who had already inferred so much without requiring Owen's input.

"Yeah? So what?" Gwen questioned the American CIA agent; confused as to why the CIA would end up at her house in the middle of nowhere. Presumably, it was Torchwood related. Just what had Jack and Ianto gotten themselves into in America?

Owen was watching Rex carefully. Something was wrong. Despite standing still, the American as struggling to maintain his balance. His heavy breathing then turned into coughing, confirming Owen's suspicions that the guy wasn't at full health. Owen, however, wasn't expecting Rex to collapse and faceplant the floor. That came as a surprise.

Owen sprung straight into action, running over to Rex. He kicked the gun in the general direction of the house, which Tosh collected, before dropping to his knees besides Rex's unconscious body. With a grunt, Owen pushed Rex over onto his back. It wasn't difficult to find the source of the problem as the massive bandage over his chest stood out. Instead of its typical white colour the bandage was dark red in colour, suggesting to Owen that it had been left on for far too long. Most likely, it had gotten infected. "We need to get him inside," Owen called out to the others. He needed to get a better look at the wound.


End file.
